The Beast's Maze
by bellatrixshine
Summary: Welcome to the Beast's Maze. A game where no one might die, but despair will be abundant. Secrets revealed, fears exploited, limbs lost, and maybe a death or two. Someone might even go insane. The Beast's Maze promises a game like no other. Even if everyone survives, some might wish they didn't. [SYOC] [Spin-Off of Crit Fail's Legacy of Despair Series]
1. Cast List

**Prologue**

The Tragedy has come and nearly passed. Many lives have been lost to riots, experiments, and most importantly Killing Games. From copycats to legitimate games, hundreds of Ultimates have been forced to take part in these games. They're all the same. Motive, death, trial, execution, repeat. Whether on the moon, a train, or an amusement park, the pattern is always the same.

Well...what if we messed with that formula a little bit? A game where no one might die, but despair will be abundant. Secrets revealed, fears exploited, limbs lost, and maybe, just maybe, a death or two. Someone might even go insane. The Beast's Maze promises a game like no other. Even if everyone survives, some might wish that they didn't.

So, after much deliberation and getting permission from Crit, I have finally decided to make a spin-off for the Legacy of Despair series. And because I'm extra, I had to make things a bit different. Think of this game less as a Killing Game, and more as a Despair Game. Sort of like a Saw game. People might die, but there is chance of survival. Also, please keep in mind the changes on the application as they are a bit different from the typical application.

Rules for submissions:

Please send all submissions via PM. As with everyone else in this series, review submissions will be ignored.

Supernatural talents are acceptable, but please keep them reasonable.

I would prefer that your characters not be any older than 19. If they are, then you have to make them a Former Ultimate.

You are free to submit as many characters as you want. Get creative! I will try to keep this to two per creator.

I will be accepting twenty-two characters in total.

At the moment, submissions will be open until June 17th.

Update: I will allow for talents that have been used before in the series, and I will be open to accepting two characters per creator.

* * *

**Submitted Characters: 37 (16 Girls/21 Boys)**

1\. Yui Yukimura [Ultimate Gunslinger] (Submitted by StoryProducer214)

2\. Lucille DuCarde [Ultimate Formula-1 Racer] (Submitted by Dashunterman)

3\. Alice Blackwell [Ultimate Caregiver] (Submitted by Bellatrixshine)

4\. Gilbert Robbins (aka Sir Blaze) [Ultimate Knight] (Submitted by Gamergirl101)

5\. Hideki Inoue [Ultimate ?] (Submitted by Bellatrixshine)

6\. Yoshi Kruger [Ultimate Actress] (Submitted by NSPunny)

7\. Fera Shoule [Ultimate Ghostwriter] (Submitted by 4242564 Knock on death's door)

8\. Katherine "Kitty" Roberts [Ultimate Lion Tamer] (Submitted by The Celestial Sky Dragon)

9\. Maurus "Tilki" Yılmaz [Former Ultimate Bandit] (Submitted by Runicwolf)

10\. Christel Dreynamo [Former Ultimate Train Conductor] (Submitted by LckiKoin)

11\. Shinya Dokusei [Ultimate Toxicologist] (Submitted by WoopaKoopaTroopa)

12\. Mazin Brennar [Ultimate Maze Runner] (Submitted by 71526483)

13\. Alejandro (Alex) Sanchez [Ultimate Roller Blader] (Submitted by ThatHydrokinetic)

14\. Percy Alpina [Ultimate Fireworks Enthusiast] (Submitted by JCW18)

15\. Kiiseu "Keith" Parker [Ultimate Badass] (Submitted by Bloodshottailsdoll)

16\. Annaleise Lavar [Former Ultimate Queen] (Submitted by 71526483)

17\. Gemma Hawkwood [Elite Archer] (Submitted by Crit Fail)

18\. Chang-min [Former Ultimate Taekwondoin] (Submitted by ShinyOshawottKing1)

19\. Heikki "Henry" Ruutikainen [Former Ultimate Rescuer] (Submitted by Runicwolf)

20\. Ryosei Okazaki [Ultimate Insurance Broker] (Submitted by Prince PokePersona)

21\. Tenshi Tsuchiya [Ultimate Iaidoka] (Submitted by Trust Me the Spider)

22\. Jamie Smith [Ultimate Adapter] (Submitted by Fee5H)

23\. Kazato Yoshihiro [Ultimate Historian] (Submitted by Tyleriscool12345)

24\. Garnet Maddigan [Ultimate Acrobat] (Submitted by Alter Ego AV)

25\. Aio Cosimo [Ultimate Kappa] (Submitted by Life among the dead)

26\. Takeshi "Keshi" Abe [Ultimate Combat Medic] (Submitted by Abitat Eco)

27\. Cadoc Drakeford [Former Ultimate Strongman] (Submitted by Superguy559)

28\. Arachne Weaver [Ultimate Tapestry Weaver] (Submitted by ShinyOshawottKing1)

29\. Yoshitora "Yoshi" Utagawa [Ultimate Kabuki Actor] (Submitted by RazTheGiant)

30\. Mara Thompson [Ultimate Survivor] (Submitted by Sims Fan214)

31\. Tuen Shopman [Former Ultimate Lawyer] (Submitted by ThePLOTHand)

32\. Anthony Rufheiser [Ultimate Artificial Lifeform] (Submitted by 71526483)

33\. Rafaela "Redslash" Frenzel [Ultimate Cyberpunk] (Submitted by 1Glimmershine)

34\. Minemi Gojou [Ultimate Parapsychologist] (Submitted by Prince Pokepersona)

35\. Eva Dufour [Ultimate Baker] (Submitted by Sims Fan214)

36\. Itsuka Hiraku [Spectacular Vigilante] (Submitted by Pokemansuperallstar)

37\. Iyasa Rivieras [Former Ultimate Mngwa] (Submitted by My death can't be cured)

* * *

**Accepted ****Students**

**1\. Lucille DuCarde**

**Gender: Female**

**Creator: Dashunterman**

**Age: 18**

**Birthday: June 7th**

**Nationality: French**

**Talent: Ultimate Formula-1 Racer**

**Blood Type: A**

**Hair Color: Blonde**

**Hair Style/Length: Short, boyish pixie-cut**

**Eye Color: Green**

**Skin Tone: Tanned**

**Body Type: Thin, toned body, moderate bust, long arms, long legs,**

**Markings: A scar behind her left ear she received from a nasty crash during a race. Burn marks on both her palms from trying to open a door during a fire at her house.**

**Height/Weight:5 Feet 7 inches/115 Pounds**

**Normal Outfit: A red F-1 Racer suit. The top has white lines going along the sleeves to the shoulder and has numerous sponsor patches. The most prominent of which is for Bell Lake Construction, a stylized "B" and "L" done in the shape of a clock tower bell, on the back. The pants are cut for Lucille's body and, like the top, are red and have a white stripe going up the legs to the waist. The shoes are simple white, low-top sneakers without treads**

**Accessories: A gold locket, worn around her neck, that has a picture of her and her brother Lucas in it **

* * *

**2\. ****Fera Shoule**

**Gender: Male**

**Creator: 4242564 Knock on Death's Door**

**Age: 16**

**Birthday: March 3rd **

**Nationality: Laotian**

**Talent: Ultimate Ghostwriter**

**Blood Type: A-**

**Hair Color: Dark brown **

**Hair Style/Length: Short, curly hair with a silver fade on the sides**

**Eye Color: Smoky grey eyes**

**Skin Tone: Pale **

**Body Type: Slender**

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: He has a 'less than' birthmark on his left cheek and a 'greater than' birthmark on his right. **

**Height: 5'5"**

**Weight: 103 lbs**

**Normal Clothing: A tight long-sleeved black shirt with a red stripe down the sleeves, black skinny jeans and white sneakers that can turn into skates with pop-out wheels.**

**Accessories: A red and purple scarf in a windsor knot style and black trilby hat with a small red belt. **

* * *

**3\. Katherine Roberts**

**Gender: Female**

**Creator: The Celestial Sky Dragon**

**Age: 18**

**Date of Birth: September 16th **

**Home country: Colorado Springs, Colorado (USA)**

**Talent: Ultimate Lion Tamer **

**Blood Type: AB-**

**Appearance: Kitty is a very pretty lady. She has fair colored skin, free of visible blemishes. She has long violet hair, kept up in curly twintails. She has bright blue eyes, a small nose and mouth, and a slim figure, with a bountiful chest (Which she admits is her least favorite feature). **

**Hair color/style: Long waist length violet hair, kept up in twintails, held up by sparkly violet ribbons. There are streaks of white running through her hair, and it has a bit of a curl to it.**

**Eye Color: Bright Blue **

**Skin Tone: Fair**

**Body Type: Slim figure, with D-cup breasts **

**Birthmarks, scars or tattoos: She has a bite mark on her wrist from when a Lion cub bit her. The cub was being playful and didn't know its own strength. Kitty labeled it as an accident, but uses it as a constant reminder of what lions can truly do, even when young.**

**Height: 5 feet 6 inches**

**Weight: 120LBS**

**Normal Clothing: Kitty's normal outfit consists of an odd ensemble. She wears a tight fitting lavender shirt, with see-through poofy sleeves. The shirt has a low collar, showing off quite a lot of her cleavage. Over her shirt, she wears a black and violet leather corset, tied behind her back with royal purple silk ribbons. It also has visible paw prints decorating most of it. Kitty wears a matching layered skirt, the top layer is black in color with glittering sequins and paw prints. The second later is violet and poofy, the final layer is white, and features various Big Cats embroidered onto the hem with black thread. She wears violet fishnet stockings, as well as matching heeled boots. Atop her head, she wears a pair of black kitty ears, usually matching the color of whatever she's wearing, normally it's purple.**

**Jewelry: Kitty has a pair of cat earrings on her ears. She also wears a kitty ear diadem on her head, and has a cat themed charm bracelet, loaded with charms of all of the big cats, as well as some of the places she's performed.**

* * *

**4\. Hideki Inoue**

**Gender: Male**

**Creator: Bellatrixshine**

**Age: 4**

**Birthday: March 3rd**

**Nationality: Japanese**

**Talent: Ultimate ?**

**Blood Type: B-**

**Hair Color: Dark blonde**

**Hair Style/Length: Hideki has fluffy, shaggy hair that goes past his ears.**

**Eye Color: Hazel**

**Skin Tone: Pale**

**Body Type: Hideki has a small frame that is very adorable and typical for a toddler. While not malnourished, it is clear that he needs to be fed more often.**

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: He has a surgery scar running down his back.**

**Height: 3'4**

**Weight: 36 lbs**

**Normal Clothing: Hideki wears a pastel green t-shirt, jean overalls, white socks, and white Velcro sneakers.**

**Accessories: Hideki has a baby blue pacifier that is clipped to his shirt, and he always carries around a white teddy bear.**

* * *

**5\. Yui Yukimura**

**Gender: Female**

**Creator: StoryProducer214**

**Age: 12**

**Birthday: October 2nd**

**Nationality: Japanese**

**Talent: Ultimate Gunslinger**

**Blood Type: A+**

**Hair Color: Black**

**Hair Style/Length: Long hair that reaches mid-back and is tied into a ponytail, along with long and messy bangs and has some hair loose on the sides.**

**Eye Color: Crimson Red**

**Skin Tone: Pale**

**Body Type: Petite build**

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: Has some scars in her torso, but not to the extent of her brother's.**

**Height: 4'4 ft**

**Weight: 69 lbs**

**Normal Clothing: She wears a black jacket over a sleeveless gray blouse, white short shorts, and knee-high black leather boots.**

**Accessories: She wears a checkered black and gray scarf around her neck, which covers her mouth. She also wears a grey flat cap on top of her head and a black leather belt around her shorts, which contain a silver Desert Eagle pistol and a Colt Python revolver on the left and right side of her belt respectively, along with ammunition. She also wears black fingerless gloves on occasion.**

* * *

**6\. Shinya Dokusei**

**Gender: Male**

**Creator: WoopaKoopaTroopa**

**Age: 18**

**Birthday: 12th November**

**Nationality: Japanese**

**Talent: Ultimate Toxicologist**

**Blood Type: O+**

**Hair Color: Brown hair with the tips dyed Green.**

**Hair Style/Length: Short hair that ends right above the nape of his neck. The front is swept to the right of his face, hanging right above his eye.**

**Eye Color: Gold**

**Skin Tone: Very Pale**

**Body Type: Very thin with almost no muscle.**

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: A large burn scar across his chest and several smaller burn scars spreading up his arms**

**Height: 5' 10"**

**Weight: 128 lbs**

**Normal Clothing: Blue T-shirt, a dark green hooded jacket (unzipped), black jeans and black boots reaching just above his ankles, black fingerless gloves.**

**Accessories: Bandages on both arms reaching past his elbows. Worn to hide his scars.**

* * *

**7\. Yoshi Kruger**

**Gender: Female**

**Creator: NSPunny**

**Age: 15 years old**

**Birthday: June 1st**

**Nationality: German/Japanese (born and raised in Japan)**

**Talent: Ultimate Actress (also answers to Ultimate Magical Girl)**

**Blood Type: A+**

**Hair Color: Light Brown/Brunette**

**Hair Style/Length: Her hair is in twin tails, each of which go down to about her mid-back in length.**

**Eye Color: Light blue**

**Skin Tone: Medium (white with a little bit of light brown mixed)**

**Body Type: Slightly more athletic than most but not overly muscular. She has an average breast size as well.**

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: None**

**Height: 5'8"**

**Weight: 110 lbs.**

**Normal Clothing: She wears a pure white leotard with a sleeve length that stops at about her elbow. She wears a light pink skirt that goes ****to her knee in length. She wears white gloves on both hands that extend down to about an inch before each of her elbows. She wears ****white knee-high socks and hot pink high heels.**

**Accessories: She carries around a white wand with a cartoony star that glows at the top. Has no real powers but was her trusted prop ****through many TV-series**

* * *

**8\. Gilbert Robbins (aka Sir Blaze)**

**Gender: Male**

**Creator: Gamergirl101**

**Age: 19**

**Birthday: December 13 (on a Friday the 13th)**

**Nationality: Irish**

**Talent: Ultimate Knight**

**Blood Type: O**

**Hair Color: very light brown**

**Hair Style/Length: ponytail**

**Eye Color: icy blue**

**Skin Tone: fair**

**Body Type: tall and somewhat muscular **

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: tattoo of a sword on his back, multiple scars on his arms and legs**

**Height: 6'6"**

**Weight: 150 lbs**

**Normal Clothing: black combat boots, black pants, white shirt, black leather jacket**

**Accessories: shield necklace he wears often, sword by his side at all times in case**

* * *

**9\. Alice Blackwell**

**Gender: Female**

**Creator: Bellatrixshine**

**Age: 18**

**Birthday: September 15**

**Nationality: American**

**Talent: Ultimate Caregiver**

**Blood Type: A+**

**Hair Color: Peachy orange**

**Hair Style/Length: Long wavy hair parted over to the right that reaches her mid-back and windswept bangs**

**Eye Color: Hazel**

**Skin Tone: Fair**

**Body Type: Alice has shoulders that are broader than her hips, a curvy figure, and a D-cup chest. Her arms, legs, and stomach do show signs of muscle tone.**

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: Fading scars on her arms and wrists**

**Height: 5'9**

**Weight: 172 lbs**

**Normal Clothing: Alice wears a white button-up blouse that has the top button undone, a navy blue cardigan buttoned up all the way, a thick black belt buckled around her waist, a light pink skirt that reaches her mid-thigh, black tights, and black flats.**

**Accessories: A light pink headband, a matching mini-backpack, and a silver ring on her right ring finger**

* * *

**10\. Percy Alpina**

**Gender: Male**

**Creator: JCW18**

**Age: 17**

**Birthday: July 4th**

**Nationality: Peruvian **

**Talent: Ultimate Fireworks Enthusiast**

**Blood Type: A Negative**

**Hair Color: Chocolate Brown**

**Hair Style/Length: Curly, short, and wild, coming down to his ears**

**Eye Color: Gold**

**Skin Tone: White, with a chocolate, Latin American tan**

**Body Type: Average, slim build**

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: Has several minor burns on his hands from small mishaps dealing with fireworks, however these don't bother him, in fact he wears them as a badge of honor.**

**Height: 5 feet 6 inches**

**Weight: 126 pounds**

**Normal Clothing: Percy wears an old, yet ornate and fancy traditional feathered poncho, that is colored white, yellow, sky blue, and orange. The sleeves are extremely long and over-sized, covering him well past his hands. His pants and small boots match his poncho, and he also has a tanned, feathered sombrero on his head. Finally, his look is finished with a long, flowing scarf, that also matches the color scheme of his poncho.**

**Accessories: On his back he carries a large satchel filled with various different types of fireworks. He carries it with him everywhere.**

* * *

**11\. Christel Dreynamo**

**Gender: Female**

**Creator: LckiKoin**

**Age: 20**

**Birthday: February 23rd**

**Nationality: German**

**Talent: Train Conductor (Former)**

**Hair Color: Light Brown**

**Hair Style/Length: short and messy hair.**

**Eye Color: Brass**

**Skin Tone: Tanned**

**Body Type: Petite and slightly muscular. Her chest is quite flat. Also has a childish looking face.**

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: Small burn scars on her hands, along with stains of ash from burnt coal on**

**her face and arms.**

**Height: 145 cm / 4'9**

**Weight: 34 kg / 76 lbs**

**Normal Clothing: White checkered shirt with black lines, brown denim shorts with a yellow number 3 ****embroidered on the bottom-left side held on with brown suspenders, white stocking and black boots. Most ****of her clothes are mostly covered in black stains from burnt coal.**

**Accessories: A dirty brown checkered Stormy Kromer cap with a black and white emblem of an adjustable ****spanner and a monkey wrench crossed over a railroad track, a golden rimmed goggles with black lenses and ****brown straps hanging on her neck and decorates her suspenders with various steam locomotive related ****memorabilia pins that he got from his travels. She also carries a brown messenger bag with an encyclopedia ****about trains, a monkey wrench, a custom-made bronze tobacco pipe that has it's chamber (the bowl for ****burning tobacco) shaped like a train whistle, a matchbox, and a small box of shredded tobacco inside it.**

* * *

**12\. Takeshi "Keshi" Abe**

**Gender: Male**

**Creator: Abitat Eco**

**Age: 16**

**Birthday: March 12th**

**Talent: Ultimate Combat Medic**

**Blood Type: AB**

**Hair Colour: Takeshi's hair is a light plum colour in shade, a mix of magenta and paler colours. He also has a single light grey highlight running down his fringe to the right of his face.**

**Hair Style/Length: Generally, Takeshi's hair has a rather scruffy and straggled appearance, appropriate for a blast-zone setting given his talent. His hair is cut in jagged edges and strands sticking up from the top of his head and running down along his face, forming wider spikes at the level of his ears which stick outwards before narrowing again and ending just above the level of his chin, thick and slightly wild. His fringe is also jaggedly cut a little unevenly and hangs just over his left eye and a little above his right eye, whilst two larger sections of his fringe are swept to the sides of his face to frame them and secured in place with hair grips. He also has two longer straggled strands of his hair that hang on either side of his face down to just past his shoulders, the ends jagged and rough. These parts are clearly in need of a good trimming to tidy them.**

**Eye Colour: Takeshi's eyes are wide and almond shaped, irises constantly flicking about as though watching cautiously, trying to examine every possible nook and cranny for potential dangers. His irises are a light green in shade, bright and constantly taking everything in.**

**Skin Tone: Takeshi is rather pale, not quite porcelain, but despite being frequently outdoors in varying environments, he isn't particularly well tanned. If anything, he just seems to burn more easily.**

**Body Type: Overall, Takeshi is notably a little shorter than the average boy his age, but has some decent muscle tone in his arms and legs, probably acquired through military training and using his talent day-by-day, without looking particularly well-muscled or stocky. He has small abs but a generally healthy weight in proportion to his height. His face is oval in shape, with a small cluster of brown freckles dotted across the midline of his long and upturned nose. His lips are pale red in colour and are often pressed together, or spread into a tiny polite smile of respect when addressing others. As well as this, his eyebrows are the same shade of his hair and sit raised above his eyes, a little droopy.**

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: Takeshi's body is pop-marked with small scars and burns, the marks of conflict and combat violence. Most notable is the scar on the left side of his face which is a little untidily stitched and extends from the middle of his forehead and down, diagonally curved, to end at the edge of his left cheek. Takeshi also has a white eyepatch covering his left eye and what seems to be a small barcode tattooed on the side of his neck.**

**Height: 5.4 ft**

**Weight: 136 lbs**

**Normal Clothing: Takeshi's normal clothing is quite casual and very reflective of his talent. He wears an oversized khaki green hoodie with alternating darker green and brown patches making up its main cameo army design, which is opened with a zipper. He often wears his hoodie partially open, revealing the simple black cotton shirt underneath, a little torn and patched up from reuse. Takeshi will often wear the sleeves rolled back to his elbows in a similar manner to how he wears his long light brown camo shorts, rolled up to just below his knees. Large pockets are present on each leg, filled with a variety of nick-nacks Takeshi has picked up during his travels. Lastly on his feet, he wears a pair of sturdy grip dark brown boots with mismatched socks (his left being orange with a dark blue stripped pattern, the right being dark blue with a white star pattern). He is unlikely to change his outfit when it comes to sleeping or exercising. It's pretty much the only outfit he has.**

**Accessories: Lastly, Takeshi carries with him a few notable accessories of his own, mostly related to his talent. This includes a pair of medical cross shaped hairgrips to keep the sides of his fringe out of his face, his eyepatch, a thin navy strapped watch (currently showing the incorrect time), latex blue gloves and a light brown scarf hanging around his neck, decorated in a variety of different badges (including small medal pins and a few cuter badges, including both a cat and dog badge). He also has a holster around his belt which bears holdings for various items. Takeshi has with him a stun gun and a purposefully unloaded gun. Most notable however is his enormous dark brown rucksack ('crash pack') which he carries on his back. This is filled with medical supplies: bandages, surgical emergency tools, oxygen masks, medication – it's all there in that one pack. There are a few other more personal items in there, including a crumpled photograph of Takeshi with the rest of his 'squad', some probably out-of-date gummy worms and a large flask of water. He also has a small stuffed teddy in his bag, coloured white and wearing an army uniform ('Seargent Beary')**

* * *

**13\. Gemma Hawkwood**

**Species: Elf (She was present in London during the outbreak in October 2020)**

**Gender: Female**

**Creator: Crit Fail**

**Age: 16**

**Birthday: March 21st**

**Nationality: Italian/British**

**Talent: Elite Archer**

**Blood Type: AB**

**Hair Color: Honey Blonde**

**Hair Style/Length: She has long golden blonde hair, some of which is in a braid. Being an Elf now she has long ears which are tapered to a point. **

**Eye Color: Turquoise, but with almost no discernible pupil. (She has extremely good sight even in near pitch dark situations. Her eyes are sharper as well in appearance instead of being rounded.)**

**Skin Tone: Lightly tanned**

**Body Type: Gemma is quite the opposite of what you'd anticipate as an elf. She is of average height, however she's extremely voluptuous with wide shapely hips and a huge bosom. Her curves are more pronounced because her waist is far smaller then what is typically possible for a human to obtain. Her arms are fairly muscular but her legs and neck are rather slender. **

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: She has a green tattoo of an arrow across a coat of arms that represents the Hawkwood Family on her right shoulder. **

**Height: 5'7**

**Weight: 140 Lbs**

**Normal Clothing: She wears a green tunic with the chest open exposing a generous amount of cleavage. She sports a pure white cloak that offers her a bit more modesty, it's held in place by a broach that again has the Hawkwood Family Crest upon it. The cloak has a hood that she pulls down sometimes. She wears a pair of thigh-high black boots that are laced up the front. **

**Accessories: Strapped to her back is a mahogany longbow that she made for herself when she began competing professionally. She also has quiver with thirty arrows on her back, and a large leather satchel that's usually slung over her shoulder. It contains tools for restringing and repairing her bow, and smaller tools, like knives in case she needs to make new arrows. She also has a number of extra fantasy inspired outfits she carries in her bag from various cosplay conventions.**

* * *

**14\. Anthony "Tony" Rufheiser**

**Gender: Male**

**Creator: 71526483**

**Age: 15**

**Birthday: January 4th **

**Nationality: Cuban**

**Talent: Ultimate Artificial Lifeform (But desperately wants to be known as the Ultimate Humanitarian)**

**Blood Type: A+**

**Hair Color: Black**

**Hair Style/Length: Short, smooth, slightly spiky hair slicked back with gel, tucked behind his ears. **

**Eye Color: Chocolate brown**

**Skin Tone: Light mocha tan**

**Body Type: Light muscle definition in his chest, slim arms with slender-like hands, thin legs.**

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: A dark gray, nearly black smoke-shadow tattoo starting from his hips, up his sides, snaking up both sides of his neck and curling onto his cheeks into a halfway spiral, mirroring opposite each other.**

**Height: 5'8"**

**Weight: 122 lbs**

**Normal Clothing: A form-fitting gray suit jacket with a shawl lapel and center vent, white button-up shirt, black dress pants, and brown dress shoes. **

**Accessories: A bright purple-pink tie, a silver wireless headset with a bluetooth microphone and circle of white light emanates from his chest, barely seen through his shirt and jacket.**

* * *

**15.**** Minemi Gojou**

**Gender: Female**

**Creator: Prince Pokepersona**

**Age: 16 years old**

**Birthday: April 10th**

**Nationality: Japanese**

**Talent: Parapsychologist**

**Blood Type: A-**

**Hair Color: Silvery White**

**Hair Style/Length: Long straight messy hair that ends at her ankles and is styled with two cone shaped buns on the sides of her hair with messy curly low hanging twin tails with two curly strands framing the sides of her face.**

**Eye Color: Red**

**Skin Tone: Pale White**

**Body Type: A skinny petite frame with a small bust size.**

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: She has a small scar on the back of her neck and a few small scars on her back shoulders.**

**Makeup: She wears black lipstick with a silvery gloss over on the lower lip, light grey eyeshadow on her eyelids and nails painted black with white skull designs on each nail.**

**Height: 5ft. 3inc. tall**

**Weight: 104lbs. **

**Normal Clothing: She wears a black gothic straped elegant dress with cobweb white laced long sleeves, black lace chest section and swirly flowery grey patterns all over the dress, a knee length flared out skirt with white lace transparent elegant trimming along the hemline with a cinched in white ribbon sash, black lace stockings with white pentagram stars patterned all over and black boot heels with white spider bows on the front straps.**

**Accessories: A black lace necklace choker with a red ruby pendant in the center, grey lace fingerless gloves on both of her hands with black ribbon tied around each, a bright red rose ribbon headband on top of her head and a white parasol with black stripes patterned all over it with a curled handle she carries with her.**

* * *

**16\. ****Iyasa Rivieras**

**Gender: Male**

**Creator: My death can't be cured**

**Age: 21**

**Birthday: February 12th**

**Nationality: Argentinian**

**Talent: ****Former Ultimate Mngwa**

**Blood Type: AB-**

**Fur Description: Golden-brown outer coat fur and white undercoat with tabby-like marks all over the body. **

**Other body features: Iyasa has a muzzle, a small black nose with a dot of peach, has sharp teeth, a long furry tail with subtle darker stripes, hocked legs, whiskers, and slightly big cat ears on the sides of his head. **

**Eye Color: Green with a slit-like pupil**

**Skin Tone: Light mocha tan (Formerly)**

**Body Type: Slim build, muscled arms and chest, and toned legs.**

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: Iyasa has a small scar on his wrist. **

**Height: 5'8"**

**Weight: 189 lbs**

**Normal Clothing: Iyasa wears a gray cloak that parts to the sides to show off a white undercoat of fur, red short shorts and goes barefoot. **

**Accessories: White gauze on his forearms. **

* * *

**17\. Rafaela "Redslash" Frenzel **

**Gender: Female**

**Creator: 1Glimmershine**

**Age: 18**

**Birthday: 2/28**

**Nationality: German**

**Talent: Cyberpunk**

**Blood Type: B+**

**Hair Color/Hair Style/Length: Long, loose spiky mohawk, with maze-like cornrows on the sides. Half of her mohawk is bleached white, and the other half is crimson. The cornrows are jet black.**

**Eye Color: Light brown**

**Skin Tone: Pale**

**Body Type: Relatively lean, well-toned muscles, BB cup breasts, and slightly above average curves. Furthermore, **

**Scars,Tattoos or Birthmarks: She has a few scars of slashes on her face.**

**Height: 5'8"**

**Weight: 183 lbs.**

**Normal Clothing: She wears a jet black leather jacket with the entire right sleeve torn off, a white undershirt, torn up jet black skinny jeans with some of the color faded away, and jet black, studded, combat boots. She also wears a studded, crimson leather glove on her left hand, and white and crimson bandages on her right arm from her shoulder to her elbow. Finally, she has a thin white cape that has a jagged crimson line running down the middle, and the cape has seen better days.**

**Accessories: Three silver earrings in both ears, a bronze lip ring, gold eyebrow ring, a white leather belt, and a gold chain necklace with a medallion that looks like cybernetic skull with her hairstyle.**

**Additional: Her right arm is entirely cybernetic, it's design is highly refined and fearsome in appearance. It has large metal claws, and can turn into a super-heated blade that has teeth-like edges sort of like a saw.**

* * *

**18\. ****Garnet Maddigan.  
**

**Gender: Trans Male.**

**Creator: Alter Ego AV**

**Age: 17.**

**Birthday: January 12th.**

**Nationality: New Zealander.**

**Talent: Ultimate Acrobat**

**Blood Type: O+**

**Hair Color: Cerulean blue.**

**Hair Style/Length: Long on top, buzz-cut on the bottom, with the top tied back into a tight foxtail.**

**Eye Color: Dark pink.**

**Skin Tone: Pale peach.**

**Body Type: Slightly muscular.**

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: Surgical scars on his upper chest, acne scars on his back, legs and shoulders. Piercing holes in his earlobes, long since grown over. Galaxy pattern tattoo sleeves on both arms.**

**Height: 5'4"**

**Weight: 110 lbs.**

**Normal Clothing: An open blue vest over a white tank top, black jeans and beige sandals.**

**Accessories: A red bandana scarf with a white mandala pattern around his neck.**

* * *

**19\. Tenshi Tsuchiya**

**Gender: Female**

**Creator: Trust Me the Spider**

**Gender: Female**

**Age: 17**

**Birthday: June 17th**

**Nationality: Japanese**

**Talent: Ultimate Iaidoka**

**Blood Type: A+**

**Hair Color: Auburn (but she wears a flaxen blonde wig)**

**Hair Style/Length: Her natural hair is styled into a short bob cut with frayed bangs. In stark contrast, her wig leaves the forehead revealed and has long, luscious locks that cascade down her back.**

**Eye Color: Yellow (but she wears aquamarine contact lenses)**

**Skin Tone: Fair**

**Body Type: Lithe and flexible with delicately-toned arms and legs. Flat-chested and completely devoid of curves.**

**Scars, Tattoos, or Birthmarks: Her palms and fingers are roughly callused in stark contrast to the rest of her baby smooth skin. Furthermore, the backs of her hands are covered with thin scars.**

**Cosmetics: Tenshi almost obsessively applies makeup to her face every morning. She uses lip gloss, eyeliner, mascara, blush for her cheeks, and loads of foundation for her skin. When she's fully dolled up, Tenshi looks like an angel, but underneath all that makeup is a rather plain and freckled face. ****Tenshi also wears strawberry-scented perfume on her wrists and neck. And defying expectations, she strangely doesn't wear any sort of nail polish.**

**Height: 5'6" (168 cm)**

**Weight: 109 lbs (49 kg)**

**Normal Clothing: It'd be a bit strange to call it her "normal" clothing, but right before she found herself in the Killing Game, Tenshi just so happened to be cosplaying as Kirarin from Sainan Shoujo, a magical girl anime (that I made up, lol). This outfit has a black and hot pink color scheme that consists of a frilly skirt (pink) and sleeveless top (black and pink), the sort of clothing you'd expect a J-pop idol to wear. Frilly thigh-high stockings (black), ribbon sandals (pink), and short detached sleeves (pink) complete her unusual look.**

**Accessories: A black headband with an oversized pink bow. Small, yellow, star-shaped earrings, one in each ear. Gloves made from black silk. She keeps a black felt-tip marker between her (nonexistent) cleavage, and this is only possible because of how tight her top is. Most importantly, Tenshi has a pink-hilted katana with a cherry blossom-shaped guard and solid black scabbard attached to the right side of hip.**

* * *

**20.**** Jamie Smith**

**Gender: Male**

**Creator: Fee5H**

**Age: 8**

**Birthday: June 1st**

**Nationality: American**

**Talent: Ultimate Adapter**

**Blood Type: A-**

**Hair Color: Black**

**Hair Style: Messy, but not unruly. **

**Eye Color: Dark gray. A few shades away from black.**

**Skin Tone: Lightly Tanned**

**Body Type: Thin**

**Scars, Tatoos, or Birthmarks: None**

**Height: 3'7"**

**Weight: 49 lbs**

**Normal Attire: A black t-shirt and beige shorts. Both look like they haven't been in a washing machine in months. His plain sneakers are tattered, and his socks are quite worn out.**

**Accessories: None**

* * *

**21\. ****Arachne Weaver**

**Gender: Female**

**Creator: ShinyOshawottKing1 **

**Age: 17**

**Birthday: March 14th**

**Nationality:British**

**Talent: Ultimate tapestry weaver**

**Blood Type: AB-**

**Hair Color: A Soft brown with soft pink tips**

**Hair Style/Length: waist length waterfall braids**

**Eye Color: A Soft sunset orange with hints of an icy blue**

**Skin Tone: Alabaster**

**Body Type: Her upper body matches that of a swimmer with an E-cup chest. Her lower half is that of a black widow spider connected at the waist**

**Changes due to mutation: Arachne now has a set of fangs with one that always sticks out, venom that she can inject via the fangs at will and control the potency of, the bottom half of her body has been turned into a spider, she can produce a silk like webbing, and luckily for her the transformation left her reproductive organs alone. She can also communicate with spiders and forge a bond with them as their queen. She can climb walls and generate a silk like webbing thanks to the mutation.**

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: She has a tattoo of an Owl and Black widow staring each other down on her stomach and various spiders from video games tattooed on her arms and back. She has jagged scars on her wrists that she hides.**

**Height: 5'3"**

**Weight: 108**

**Normal Clothing:She usually wears a Hot pink bikini top, a black mesh covering over her waist down until it reaches the 2 inches below the connection between the human half and the spider half, and a pair of Arm bands that match her skintone**

**Accessories: she has a pair of obsidian earrings in the shape of a black widow**

* * *

**22\. ****Heikki "Henry" Ruutikainen**

**Gender: Male**

**Creator: Runicwolf**

**Age: 25**

**Birthday: 5th November.**

**Nationality: Finnish.**

**Talent: Former Rescuer**

**Blood Type: Rhnull**

**Hair Color: Pepper grey/blonde.**

**Hair Style/Length: Short, scruffy and poorly maintained.**

**Eye Color: Grey blue.**

**Skin Tone: Pale.**

**Body Type: Slim, but well built.**

**Scars, Tattoos or Birthmarks: Multiple scars on hands and scars, including a Y incision on his abdomen. ****Deep scratch scars on his throat and upper arms.**

**Height: 6'4 ft (193 cm)**

**Weight: 184 lb (83 kg)**

**Normal Clothing: Brown leather and metal plague doctor mask w/ straw function from underneath beak; the lenses to the mask are tinted a dark color. Rain proof long sleeve padded red-brown shirt, dark red SAR vest, brown utility pants w/ safety fire belt and NRS workboot wetshoe. ****Additionally slightly long kevlar gloves, modified flame retardant cloak open at front and has tightening straps at all openings, including hood. ****Entire set up is built to conceal and contain all skin contact.**

**Accessories: Several tools inside SAR vest; utility scissors, two way radios, diving right angle flashlight, and water flask. Sealed metal wallet with pictures of close friends and family, and nothing else.**

* * *

**Other Stats**

**Birthdays:**

**January: Anthony (4th), Garnet (12th)**

**February: Iyasa (12th), Christel (23rd), Rafaela (28th)**

**March: Fera (3rd), Hideki (3rd), Takeshi (12th), Arachne (14th), Gemma (21st)**

**April: Minemi (10th)**

**June: Jamie (1st), Yoshi (1st), Lucille (7th), Tenshi (17th)**

**July: Percy (4th)**

**September: Alice (15th), Kitty (16th)**

**October: Yui (2nd)**

**November: Henry (5th), Shinya (12th)**

**December: Gilbert (13th)**

**Arranged by Age:**

**Henry (25), Iyasa (21), Christel (20), Gilbert (19), Rafaela (18), Lucille (18), Alice (18), Kitty (18), Shinya (18), Garnet (17), Arachne (17), Tenshi (17), Percy (17), Fera (16), Takeshi (16), Gemma (16), Minemi (16), Anthony (15), Yoshi (15), Yui (12), Jamie (8), Hideki (4)**

**Arranged by Height:**

**Gilbert (6'6), Henry (6'4), Shinya (5'10), Alice (5'9), Anthony (5'8), Iyasa (5'8), Rafaela (5'8), Yoshi (5'8), Gemma (5'7), Lucille (5'7), Kitty (5'6), Percy (5'6), Tenshi (5'6), Fera (5'5), Garnet (5'4), Takeshi (5'4), Arachne (5'3), Minemi (5'3), Christel (4'9), Yui (4'4), Jamie (3'7), Hideki (3'4)**

**Arranged by Weight:**

**Iyasa (189 lbs), Henry (184 lbs), Rafaela (183 lbs), Alice (172 lbs), Gilbert (150 lbs), Gemma (140 lbs), Takeshi (136 lbs), Shinya (128 lbs), Percy (126 lbs), Anthony (122 lbs), Kitty (120 lbs), Lucille (115 lbs), Garnet (110 lbs), Yoshi (110 lbs), Tenshi (109 lbs), Arachne (108 lbs), Minemi (104 lbs), Fera (103 lbs), Christel (76 lbs), Yui (69 lbs), Jamie (49 lbs), Hideki (36 lbs)**

**Nationalities:**

**Japanese: Hideki, Yui, Shinya, Yoshi, Takeshi, Minemi, Tenshi**

**French: Lucille**

**Laotian: Fera**

**American: Kitty, Alice, Jamie**

**German: Yoshi, Christel, Rafaela**

**Irish: Gilbert**

**Peruvian: Percy**

**British: Gemma, Arachne**

**Cuban: Anthony**

**Argentinian: Iyasa**

**Italian: Gemma**

**New Zealander: Garnet**

**Finnish: Henry**

**Hair Color:**

**Blonde: ****Lucille, Hideki (dark), Gemma (honey), Tenshi (flaxen wig), Henry**

**Brown: Fera (dark), Shinya, Yoshi (light), Gilbert (very light), Percy (chocolate), Christel (light), Iyasa (golden), Arachne (soft)**

**Purple: Kitty (violet), Takeshi (plum and magenta)**

**Black: Yui, Anthony, Rafaela, Jamie**

**White: Kitty, Minemi (silvery), Iyasa, Rafaela**

**Green: Shinya**

**Orange: Alice (peachy)**

**Gray: Takeshi, Henry (pepper)**

**Red: Rafaela (crimson), Tenshi (auburn)**

**Blue: Garnet (cerulean)**

**Pink: Arachne (soft)**

**Eye Color:**

**Green: Lucille, Takeshi (light), Iyasa**

**Gray: Fera (smokey), Jamie (dark)**

**Blue: Kitty (bright), Yoshi (light), Gilbert (icy), Gemma (turquoise), Tenshi (aquamarine contact lenses), Arachne (icy), Henry (gray-blue)**

**Brown: Hideki (hazel), Alice (hazel), Anthony (chocolate), Rafaela (light)**

**Red: Yui (crimson), Minemi**

**Gold: Shinya, Percy**

**Brass: Christel**

**Pink: Garnet (dark)**

**Yellow: Tenshi**

**Orange: Arachne (sunset)**


	2. Chapter 1: Beginning Trials Act 1

**Chapter 1: Beginning Trials Act 1**

**9:05 A.M. Day One**

**Floor 5**

**Room Gamma**

Kitty let out a small groan as she woke up, feeling a twinge of pain in the back of her neck. "Jeez, I must have fallen asleep funny." She placed her hand down, expecting to feel her mattress, only to feel cold, hard concrete. "What the…?" Kitty's eyes shot open, but she was only greeted by darkness. However, she could tell without any light that she was not in her room. The violet-haired girl shook her head. "One of those silly clowns must have put me in an empty cage while I was sleeping."

"If clowns put you here, then how'd I get here?" a young man said.

Kitty screamed, scrambling away from the voice. "Whoever you are, please let me go! I totally promise I won't to the police or the Lions or the Future Foundation or anything! Just please let me go, and don't kill me!"

The young man sighed. "I didn't bring you here. Trust me when I say I couldn't have brought you here. Now, could you try and find a light switch?"

Kitty cocked an eyebrow. "Why should I?" She did not bother to hide her suspicion.

"Can you just try and find a switch?" the guy snapped. "I can't."

After a moment of debate, Kitty silently agreed. Even if her cellmate was being a bit rude, getting light into the room would be nice. She shakily made her way onto her feet before stumbling her way over to the closest wall. Her hand slid along the wall as she walked. After passing by a corner and going further along the second wall, she hit something cold. Kitty ran her hand over it, feeling a metal loop linked with another. "Chains?"

Her cellmate let out a frustrated sigh. "So you were closer to me than I thought." Kitty snapped her head up, as the voice now sounded far closer to her.

"You… Did you wake up chained to the wall?"

"No, I woke up and decided it would be a great idea to chain myself to the wall." Sarcasm dripped from his voice.

Kitty huffed. "Well forgive for asking, Mr. Grumpy-Sarcastic Pants!" After a moment of silence passed between them, Kitty was hit with an idea. Without warning, she placed her hands on what she assumed was the man's chest. "Normally I'd take you out to dinner first before doing this, but I want to see something… Well, not actually see, but you get what I mean." She heard her cellmate sigh as she began her work. Kitty first slid a hand up until she found the shoulder. Then, while running a hand down the man's arm, she ran her other down his chest. She did not stop until both hands hit chains. "Interesting."

"What is?"

Kitty snapped her head back up. "The chains are only wrapped around your wrists and abdomen."

"Thank you for that observation," the man remarked. "I never would've figured that out myself!"

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Isn't a bit weird that you only have chains there and not your entire chest and arms?" When her cellmate remained silent, Kitty giggled. "Did I finally say something you didn't think about, Mr. Sarcastic Pants?"

"First, don't call me that again," the man snapped. "My name is Shinya Dokusei, and I'm the Ultimate Toxicologist. Second, there's something that's been poking me in my back since I woke up." Shinya let out a grunt. "If I can push myself away from the wall, you could see if it's a light switch, or maybe something to let my chains loose."

Kitty giggled, snaking her hands around to Shinya's back. "Can do, Mr. Sarcastic Pants!" She heard Shinya let out a low grumble. "Ready whenever you are." After a moment, Shinya pushed himself off the wall, grunting from the action. Kitty reached behind him and began to feel around on the wall.

"Anything yet?" Shinya sounded like he was struggling.

"I literally just started looking," Kitty argued. "Give me a moment." Her hand then landed on something that felt like a switch. Without giving it much thought, she flipped it.

Light flooded the room, revealing the two strangers to each other. Kitty blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the sudden light. She then took the chance to take in her surroundings. Three of the four walls in the room, including the one Shinya was chained to, were made of dark gray bricks. The fourth wall, which stood across from the duo, was covered entirely by a mirror. What caught Kitty's attention was the table in the furthest corner of the room. Several weapons, including different types of knives, a sledgehammer, and an axe, laid across it.

The violet-haired girl was pulled from her small search by Shinya rudely asking, "What is up with your outfit?" Kitty glanced down at herself, expecting to see something wrong. Her tight-fitting, lavender shirt, as well as her black-and-violet corset, still covered her chest. She still had on her layered skirt, violet fishnet stockings, and violet, heeled boots. Maybe it was something off with her hair. She looked up at her reflection in the mirror and walked closer to it. Her hair was in her usual curly twintails, and the white highlights in her hair stood out like always. Her charm bracelet was still on her wrist, her cat earrings remained on her ears, and her cat-ear diadem sat offset on her head. Kitty paused before sighing.

"Oh, my headband's crooked." She reached up to her hair to adjust it. When Kitty heard her cellmate sigh, she cocked an eyebrow. "What? Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing?" She spun around to face Shinya. She was greeted by the sight of a thin, young man with short, brown hair that had green tips. He was wearing a blue t-shirt; an unzipped, dark green, hooded jacket; black jeans; black boots that stopped just above his ankles; and black, fingerless gloves. Chains were wrapped around his wrists and abdomen. She narrowed her eyes at the boy.

Shinya shook his head. "It's nothing. You look fine. Why all the cat stuff, though?"

Kitty perked up, her smile reappearing almost instantly. "That's right! I haven't properly introduced myself to you!"

"Try at all," Shinya grumbled, rolling his golden eyes.

Kitty either did not hear him or chose to ignore him as she walked back over to him. "I'm Katherine Roberts, the Ultimate Lion Tamer! Although, that's way oversimplifying what I do. I work with all sorts of big cats! Lions, tigers, pumas, leopards, you name it; I've probably tamed it! Except for bobcats; fuck bobcats." Kitty then drew in a quick breath. "Also, could you call me Kitty instead of Katherine? Katherine is just so boring!" Shinya stared at the girl, unsure of what to make of her. Kitty blinked innocently at the Toxicologist. "I can call you Shinya instead of Mr. Sarcastic Pants if you call me Kitty."

"Deal." Shinya sighed, glad to have that little annoying nickname dealt with. "Now, Kitty, do you think you could help me with these damn chains?" Before she could respond, a piece of paper fluttered down from the ceiling, landing right in front of her feet. The Lion Tamer bent over to pick it up, accidentally flashing Shinya via the mirror. He cast his eyes down to the ground.

With the note in hand, Kitty shot straight up, her skirt bouncing. "It's a note."

Shinya watched as she read it, her face growing more shocked. He raised his eyebrows. "What does it say?"

Kitty bit her lip, looking up at Shinya. Fear was evident in her expression. "I… I don't know if I should read it."

"Kitty, just read it."

The violet-haired girl took in a shaky breath before beginning to read. "Close to your heart; just open your eyes. Find the key before he dies. The chains will squish and crack his spine. You get five minutes or you run out of time. He holds the key to let you escape, so you better act quick or accept your fate." The sound of metal moving filled the air. Shinya screamed as the chains around his abdomen tightened, pulling him closer to the wall. Kitty let out a whimper, stumbling back from the toxicologist. "Oh my God, what… what do I do?"

"Find the damn key for these chains!" Shinya screamed, the chains tightening again. Kitty's gaze snapped around the room, trying to find something that could have a clue.

"Think, Kitty. You can't get distracted now," she muttered. "Close to your heart; just open your eyes. What could that even mean? My eyes are open, and I can't just cut my chest open. I doubt someone would put a key in my chest. That would kill me. So what could that mean…" Kitty gasped as an idea popped into her head. "My clothes!" Kitty began unlacing her corset before pulling it off. She stared at the inside of it before shaking her head.

Shinya stared at the girl incredulously, sweat dripping down his brow. "Why the hell are you stripping?"

"Because that stupid-ass poem said close to my heart, and if a key or a clue to a key were actually in my chest, I'd be dead," Kitty explained, rushing to pull her shirt over her head. "So, that means the clue is probably sewn into my shirt since there was nothing in my corset." She tugged her shirt off, leaving her in a lacy violet bra. Shinya, once again, casted his gaze to the ground. Kitty examined the inside of her shirt before her eyes landed on a piece of paper sewn into it. However, the paper seemed to only have scribbles on it. "What the hell?! Why would someone put a piece of paper in my clothes, only to leave random shit on it?!"

Shinya snapped his gaze back up, cocking an eyebrow. "There's writing on the paper?"

"If you can call it that," Kitty grumbled.

Shinya pondered the information before suggesting, "Try holding the note up to the mirror."

Kitty stared at the Toxicologist as if he had grown a second head before shaking her own and walking over to the mirror. She held the part of shirt with the paper up to mirror, and her eyes widened at what she saw.

_Break the wall to gain your escape. It won't be easy, but the reward will be great._

Kitty sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Well… we're fucked."

Shinya's eyes widened. "Why are you saying that? What is the note asking you to do?"

Kitty began pulling her shirt back on as she responded. "It's asking me to destroy the wall you're chained to. And while we have a sledgehammer, do I look like I have the upper-body strength to use it?" Once she finished getting her shirt back on, she bent down and picked up her corset.

"Could you at least give it a fucking shot?" Shinya's eyes narrowed at the Lion Tamer. "If you put enough force behind it, then you might be able to fucking break the wall." The chains tightened again, and Shinya felt it harder to breathe. "Please… try."

Kitty's eyes widened, hearing the struggle and pain in Shinya's voice. She nodded quickly before rushing over to the table and picking up the sledgehammer. It was extremely heavy, and it almost slipped out of her hands when she first grabbed it, but she had to make it work. Once Kitty managed to get it into both hands, she narrowed her eyes at the wall. "Whelp, time to break this bitch."

* * *

**9:08 A.M. Day One**

**Floor 5**

**Room Epsilon**

Rafaela let out a low growl as she slammed her body against the door. "You broccoli-looking jackasses better let me out, or I'll turn your ugly snail-fucker asses into cockshit!" She clenched her right hand before it transformed into a saw-like blade. She began slashing at the door with it, but the door did not even get a scratch on it. "Damn it!" She raised her combat-boot covered foot and kicked at the door. Yet again, nothing happened. "Fuck! What's this door even made of?"

"If I had to guess, it is more than likely made of some sort of stone or concrete," a young woman responded. Rafaela glanced over her shoulder at the owner of the voice: a petite Japanese girl with extremely long, silvery-white hair pulled into two cone-shaped buns and low, messy, curly twintails hanging from them. The girl sat behind Rafaela, clearly having just woken up. Everything about the girl screamed gothic lolita. The girl had on black lipstick with a silvery gloss over on the lower lip, light grey eyeshadow on her eyelids, and nails painted black with white skull designs on each nail. She wore a black, gothic, strapped dress with cobweb white, laced, long sleeves; black lace on the chest; and swirly, flowery, grey patterns all over the dress. Her knee-length, flared skirt had transparent, white lace trimming the hemline, and was cinched with a white ribbon sash. Black lace stockings with a white pentagram pattern and black heeled-boots with white spider bows on the front straps covered her legs and feet. A black lace choker with a ruby pendant wrapped around her neck, and a bright, rose red ribbon headband sat on her head.

The girl giggled. "And, while I'm making guesses, you must be Rafaela Frenzel, the Ultimate Cyberpunk, but you prefer to be called Redslash or Red." Rafaela stared at the girl with wide eyes, dumbstruck. "I take it I'm on the money, tehehe. It is my psychic intuition at work." She stood up, grabbing her white parasol in her left hand, which was covered by a gray, lace, fingerless glove. She walked over to Rafaela, holding her right hand out. "Minemi Gojo. Charmed, I'm sure. I'm the Ultimate Parapsychologist, and my shtick is no smoke and mirrors."

"How…? Did you really use psychic powers to learn my name?" Rafaela cracked a smile. "Because that would be so fucking cool."

Minemi smirked up at the girl. "No, dear, but I could read your mind if you like." She gave Rafaela's outfit a onceover. "Let's just say the mohawk and cornrows, the multiple piercings in your ears, lip, and eyebrow, the incredibly punk outfit, the cape, and the fact you have a cybernetic arm that can transform into a blade are dead giveaways as to who you are."

Rafaela rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm not that fucking obvious."

"Red, I think even a child could tell who you are," Minemi said.

A small giggle in the room caught the girls' attention. They snapped their attention over to the back wall of the room, where a young boy no older than eight sat.

He had messy black hair, dark gray eyes, and lightly tanned skin. He also wore a dirty black t-shirt, along with beige shorts, tattered sneakers, and worn out socks. He stared up at the two girls with wide eyes. He gave a small wave at them. "Hi, my name's Jamie. I'm called the Ultimate Adapter."

Rafaela drew in a sharp breath before turning back around to the door. "Hey, fuck-berries, you better let the kid go, or you're going to wish you were an abortion!"

"Uh, Miss, what's an abortion?" The boy tilted his head to the side.

Minemi smacked Rafaela upside the head with her free hand. "Try and reign in your language around him, Red. Some might not mind your vulgar language, but it's hardly appropriate for a child."

"He's going to hear it eventually," Rafaela muttered, rubbing at the spot Minemi hit. She kicked at the door once again.

"You already tried that, dear, and it didn't work," Minemi reminded.

"If I keep kicking, maybe it'll break," Rafaela argued, kicking it again.

Minemi raised an eyebrow, smiling. "So you believe a door you couldn't break through with your hand will eventually crumble under your foot?"

"Miss Red might be strong enough to break it!" Jamie argued, seeming to gain a lot of energy.

Minemi blinked at the sudden change while Rafaela smirked. "Hell yeah! You get what I'm thinking, kid! You want to help me try to kick it?!"

Jamie nodded, a bright smile on his face. He bounced up from his spot and rushed over to the door to help Rafaela. "Let's do it!"

Minemi shook her head, turning away from the two. "The idiot is turning the child into a future idiot," she mumbled. She looked over at the wall where Jamie had been sitting. Something about it felt different. Slowly, she approached it, already noticing the change in bricks used between it and the two walls adjacent to it. She gently placed a hand on the wall, feeling a few bricks shift backwards. Minemi's eyes widened. She glanced back at Rafaela and Jamie, who were still kicking the door.

"Hey, Red, Jamie!" The two did not respond. Minemi rolled her eyes before shouting, "Idiot and future idiot!" That got their attention. Minemi gestured at where the bricks had gone back." Maybe you should try kicking this wall instead."

Jamie gasped, eyes wide. "Miss Minemi, you're so smart!" Minemi cocked an eyebrow at the child, but did not say a word as he ran over to the wall.

Rafaela snickered, joining the kid by the wall. "That is some good thinking, Mimi."

"Mimi?" Minemi questioned, her voice flat. However, she was once again ignored as Rafaela and Jamie started kicking at the wall. Bricks began coming loose before Rafaela managed to punch a hole straight through the wall.

"Hello? Is someone there?" a young man inquired. "Please be careful with the wall! There's a girl in here, and she's still passed out!"

"Move her away!" Rafaela ordered, kicking just below the hole.

"I've been trying, but I'm not exactly well-endowed with muscles," the young man argued. "And she's also pretty heavy." More bricks tumbled from the wall.

Rafaela stared at the hole before glancing down at Jamie. "Hey, kid, how old are you?"

"I'm eight, Miss Red," Jamie chirped. Rafaela raised an eyebrow. For an eight-year-old, he was very small. Perhaps, he was small enough to fit.

"Hey, kid, do you want to go through the hole and help Mr. Weak Arms over there?" Rafaela asked, a bright smile on her face.

Minemi stared at the two with a deadpan expression. "You can't be serious."

Jamie smiled brightly, jumping up and down in place. "Yeah! That sounds like so much fun!" Rafaela's smile grew as she knelt down and hoisted the boy up to the hole. As she had hoped, the boy managed to fit through and made it to the other side of the wall.

"Alright, kid, help the guy over there move the girl away from the wall," Rafaela ordered. She glanced back at Minemi. "So, Mimi, care to help me tear this down?" Minemi felt her eye twitch at the nickname, but nodded nonetheless. She approached the wall and pointed the tip of her parasol at it.

"Miss Red, Miss Minemi, we moved the lady!" Jamie reported.

Rafaela snickered, her smirk growing as she curled up her right hand. "Time to break this turtle-shitting wall down!"

"Your insults are the peak of creativity," Minemi remarked, beginning to hit at the bricks. The combined force of her parasol and Rafaela's bionic arm was enough to bring down the wall in a matter of moments. On the other side was Jamie, along with a young man who was kneeling over a passed-out young woman.

The young woman had light brown hair pulled into two twintails that were splayed out beneath her and an athletic build. She wore a white leotard that had sleeves that stopped at her elbows, a knee-length light pink skirt, white gloves that stopped an inch below her elbows, white knee-length socks, and hot pink heels. Lying next to her was a white wand with a cartoonish star on the top of it.

The young man was clearly smaller than the girl in both build and height. Curly, dark brown hair poked out from a black trilby hat with a small red belt around it, and his smoky gray eyes moved to look at the two girls. On his left cheek was a "less than" birthmark, while the right had a "more than" birthmark. He wore a tight, long-sleeved, black shirt with a red stripe down the sleeves; black skinny jeans; a red-and-purple scarf tied in a Windsor knot; and white sneakers.

"Jeez, when I called you weak arms, I didn't realize it was true," Rafaela commented.

Minemi rolled her eyes. "Your tact is lacking, Red."

"So, Mister, who are you?" Jamie inquired.

The young man perked up. "Oh, uhm, yes, I should introduce myself. I'm Fera, the Ultimate Ghostwriter."

"Ghostwriter?" Rafaela questioned.

"Before you ask if it means he writes about ghosts, a ghostwriter is someone who will write for another person and let the other person take the credit," Minemi clarified. She turned her attention to the girl. Her chest was moving, so she was alive. "Fera, has she been out since you woke up?"

Fera nodded. "Y-Yeah, she was."

"Is she dead?" Jamie asked, eyes full of fear.

"No, she's very clearly breathing," Minemi responded. She knelt down and began poking at the girl with her parasol, a wisp of a smile appearing on her face. "Dear, wake up now. You might make a young boy cry if you don't." The brunette's eyes fluttered open, and she let out a small groan. Minemi's smile grew. "Sleeping Beauty awakes."

The brunette groaned, rubbing at the back of her neck. "Dear Jesus, my neck hurts."

Jamie rushed over to the girl's side. "Miss, are you okay?"

The girl glanced over at Jamie before immediately perking up. She shot to her feet, grabbing hold of the wand. "Fear not, young citizen! I, the Ultimate Magical Girl Minako Tsuniko, am perfectly fine!" The other teenagers in the room stared at the girl with varying reactions. Fera was frightened by the sudden change, Rafaela was very clearly confused, and Minemi just stared at the brunette with a blank expression.

Jamie, on the other hand, was clearly excited. "Wow! You have magic! That's so cool!"

The brunette chuckled, a sheepish expression taking over her face. "Sorry, kiddo, I don't. I thought I had fallen asleep on set again, so I got into character." Jamie let out a disappointed sigh as Yoshi glanced back at the other three in the room. "Sorry, everyone. My real name is Yoshi Kruger, and I'm the Ultimate Actress."

"Kruger, like the dream demon from the horror films," Fera commented, voice quiet.

Yoshi chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Any who, do you guys know where we are?"

"Your guess is as good as ours," Minemi responded. She paused, hearing a dull thud. Then there was another thud, much louder than the first. She cast her gaze at the wall to her left as a brick fell onto the ground. A smile appeared on her lips. "Tehehe! It appears we are about to meet more people."

"Do you think they're nice?" Jamie inquired.

Rafaela cracked her knuckles. "If they aren't, then they can get a taste of my fists." The five watched as the wall continued to crumble, the hits against it growing louder and louder.

* * *

**9:15 A.M. Day 1**

**Floor 5**

**Room Beta**

Alice awoke to a sound she was all-too familiar with: the sound of a young child crying. She jolted up with a start, her head snapping from the left to the right. However, there was no child in the room. Rather, slumped against the wall was a young woman with a peculiar appearance. Long, pointy ears poked out from her golden blonde hair, some of which was pulled into a braid, and she had a smaller-than-average waist that accentuated her wide hips and chest. She was sporting a green tunic that showed quite a bit of cleavage; a pure white cloak that gave the girl a sense of modesty; a broach that showed some family crest; and a pair of black, thigh-high boots.

Alice glanced around the room, relieved to see that her pink, miniature backpack was there. However, it was sitting next to several backpacks and sleeping bags, as well as a bow and quiver. All of them were leaning against a door with a black '1' painted onto it. Alice moved her head to look over at the opposite wall. A second door with a '2' scratched into the surface stood there. "What on earth?" she muttered. Alice slowly made her way to her feet, dusting off her pink skirt and readjusting her navy blue sweater, and stepped towards the bags. She still heard the sound of a child crying in the background.

After sliding her backpack on, Alice grabbed one of the larger bags, unzipped it, and searched through its contents. "A water bottle, sandwiches, chips, cookies, a box of graham crackers…A phone?" Alice zipped the bag up and grabbed another, her eyes widening at the contents of it. A handgun, a pistol, a steak knife, thick rope, and bullets all laid inside. She set the bag down immediately. "If there's a child around here, then that bag should be kept far away from them."

Alice was pulled from her thoughts after hearing a small groan. She rushed over to the girl and knelt down by her side. "Hey, hey, can you hear me, dear?" The girl's eyes peeked open. "Can you hear me?" The girl slowly nodded. Alice cracked a smile. "Can I get a verbal response, Hun?"

"I can hear you," the girl stated, her voice soft. Alice could hear a British accent from the girl. She squinted at Alice before cracking a small smile. "Is your hair peach?"

Alice chuckled. "Yes, it is. Glad to see you're talking and you can tell the difference between colors. Now, how is your head feeling?"

"My head's fine, but my neck hurts," the girl responded, her eyes opening up a bit more. Alice froze, seeing the small, almost indiscernible pupils. The girl gave Alice a confused look. "Is something wrong?"

"Your pupils," Alice muttered.

The blonde cocked her head to the side before realization hit her. It was followed by a small, "Oh…" She giggled. "Yeah, my eyes are just like that now." Alice nodded, unsure of how to react. She decided to push the issue aside for the time being.

"Well, since you said your neck hurts, may I check it?" Alice inquired. The girl nodded, readjusting herself so that her back was to Alice.

The blonde shifted slightly. "So…may I ask what your name is?"

"Of course, dear," Alice reassured, gently pushing the blonde hair over the smaller girl's shoulder. "I'm Alice Blackwell, and I'm the Ultimate Caregiver. If you need any sort of help, then just feel free to ask." Alice gave the blonde a quick pat on the shoulder. "And it appears that your neck is fine. I would guess you just slept funny on it."

With a giggle, the mystery girl turned back around to face the Caregiver. "Thank you so much, Alice! It's a pleasure to meet you, by the way." She stuck out her right hand, which Alice was quick to grab and shake. "My name is Gemma Hawkwood! And I know the big ears might be off-putting, but I'm the world's first real elf! Hehehe, I'm known as the Elite Archer - well, I guess I would be..." Gemma trailed off for a moment before shaking her head. "You know what? That doesn't matter. Just trust that I never miss my target. As long as we stick together, you'll be just fine!"

Alice's smile grew. "Well, it's good to know that I have a talented archer with me, and an Elite no less." She flinched as the child's cries grew in volume.

Gemma looked around. "Where's that coming from?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Alice responded. A piece of paper flitted down to the ground not a moment later, landing on Gemma's head.

The elf gently grabbed it before looking down to read it. "Door One holds your way to escape. Door Two holds a child's fate. Door Two means you may never leave, but Door One means the child's cries cease." Gemma dropped the note, shocked. "What's going on?"

"We have to choose between our freedom and a child's life," Alice muttered. "I don't know about you, but I'm choosing the child."

Gemma nodded, slowly making her way to her feet. She glanced over at the bags by Door One before gasping. "My bow!" She rushed over to the door, grabbing hold of the bow and quiver lying on the floor. "I can't believe I almost left without it!" She glanced back at Alice. "Do you think we should we take these bags with us too?"

"Honestly, I do," Alice responded, walking over to the elf's side. She bent over and managed to gather most of the backpacks in her arms. She clenched her teeth and strained her arms to hold all of them, but she managed. "Grab the sleeping bags and the last two backpacks." Gemma nodded, rushing to get hold of the items. With that, the two girls ran over to Door Two and pushed through the door.

The girls were greeted by an interesting set-up. Opposite to where they entered was another door. This one had a keypad on it, and a note taped to it. Above it was a timer set for five minutes. Several numbers were painted all around the room in various colors. The door slammed shut behind the girls, locking itself. The sound caused Gemma to jump, while Alice tensed up for a moment.

Once the shock passed, the girls shared a look before setting down the supplies and approaching the door. Alice snatched the note and began to read. "In these numbers is the code to the boy. You have five minutes to figure it out or else mustard gas will enter your room and his. You only get one chance to enter the code." The moment Alice finished reading the note, the timer began going down.

"How can we figure out which of these numbers are the code?" Gemma cried. "And what about the order?" Alice bit her lip, unsure of how to respond. However, the sight of the girl before beginning to tear up, combined with the cries of the child in the next room, drove Alice to act on instinct.

The Caregiver approached Gemma before gently wrapping her in a hug. "Gemma, I know that this is frightening. Not only are our lives on the line, but a young child's is, too. It feels like I am currently in a nightmare right now." Alice pulled back from the hug and stared Gemma dead in the eyes. "However, we need to be strong. If we aren't, then we're failing ourselves and that little boy." A soft smile made its way across her face as she gently wiped away Gemma's tears. "We'll be able to make it out. The person who gave us this challenge thinks we're going to fail it, but we're going to prove them wrong. Okay?"

Gemma sniffled, nodding. "Okay… Okay, I can do this." She wiped her eyes. "We can do this."

Alice's smile grew. "That's what I want to hear." She glanced up at the timer. They had lost almost forty seconds. "Start searching the numbers for anything that might give us an idea for the code." Alice pulled away from the blonde and began examining the numbers in the room. All of them were painted in various colors, and not a single one felt like it would give them the code. Alice glanced over at the timer. Only three minutes remained.

"Alice, why do you think all these numbers are in different colors?" Gemma inquired.

"If I had an idea, then I'd tell you," Alice replied, eyes scanning the wall. If she sounded curt, then Gemma either did not notice it, or she chose to ignore the Caregiver's tone.

"Pink, black, navy blue, green, white, yellow, peach, hazel, turquoise," Gemma muttered to herself, rocking back and forth on her feet.

Alice paused. She glanced back at Gemma, who was examining the opposite wall. "Gemma, what color are your eyes?"

Without looking away from the wall, Gemma responded, "Turquoise." Alice turned her eyes back to the wall by her. Numbers in the colors that Gemma had muttered were painted on the wall as well. When Alice looked up at the ceiling and the floor, it was the same case. Gemma gasped, briefly interrupting Alice's concentration as her eyes flickered over to the Archer. "It's our clothing and our features."

Alice nodded, eyes still scanning the ceiling. She stopped when she found a three painted in a lavender color. It was small and was so light that it could easily be mistaken for white, but there it was. "Gemma, find the numbers that aren't on our outfits."

Gemma giggled. "Way ahead of you, Alice! I found a zero that was amber on this wall, a three painted in violet on the wall by you, and another zero on the floor that was red." Alice breathed a sigh of relief. However, the relief was short-lived when she saw that they were down to a minute.

Alice rushed over to gather the supplies she had set down before running over to the door. "Okay, now we just need to figure out the order of the numbers." She groaned. "Four numbers and so many combinations!"

"Well, we have just two threes and two zeros, so it can't be too hard," Gemma argued as she grabbed hold of the sleeping bags once again. "Maybe there's a clue with the colors."

Alice raised an eyebrow, glancing back at Gemma. "How so?"

Gemma shrugged. "Well, the colors for those numbers were pretty specific. Amber, lavender, red, and violet. Maybe the numbers are supposed to be in alphabetical order."

Alice stared at the keypad and then at the timer. Thirty seconds remained. "Might as well try it." The caregiver raised her hand and shakenly typed in the numbers, 0-3-0-3. Alice drew in a deep breath, silently praying that the combination was correct.

The door slid open with a hiss, and the timer above it paused at fifteen seconds. The child's cries were far louder now. "Oh thank you, sweet Jesus," Alice muttered. She stepped into the room, looking around the room for the source of crying. Then she saw him.

Curled up in the far right corner of the room was a toddler with shaggy, dark blonde hair. A pastel green shirt, overalls, white socks, and matching Velcro shoes adorned the child. Alice dropped everything in her arms to rush over to the boy. "Oh my goodness, Sweetie, are you okay?" The toddler stared up at Alice, eyes red from crying. A white teddy bear was being held tightly in his arms, and a pacifier was clipped to his shirt. The boy stared up at Alice with wide eyes, sniffling. "Do you want me to carry you?" Slowly, the little one nodded, raising his arms up and making grabby hands at the caregiver.

"Is that such a good idea?" Gemma questioned. "We still have to carry all these bags." Before Alice could respond, the boy let out a small whine, more tears threatening to spill from his eyes. Alice sighed before bending over and lifting the boy into her arms. The toddler immediately clung to her like a koala bear. "Aw, he's so cute." Alice nodded, watching as the boy snuggled his head into the crook of her neck. If she felt her heart swell up, then she didn't show it yet.

The moment of peace did not last long, though, as Alice and Gemma both heard the sound of something hitting the wall right by Alice. The Caregiver quickly moved away with the toddler in her arms just as bricks began to fall. Alice grabbed Gemma and shielded both her and the toddler as the wall completely collapsed. Dust and debris filled the room. "Are you done being a destructive idiot now?" Shinya snapped.

"Eh, don't get your panties in a fucking bunch, you poison-gargling fuck-nugget," Rafaela retorted, stepping over the fallen bricks. Alice quickly placed a hand over the toddler's ears, pressing his other ear against her chest.

Yoshi followed soon after, holding onto Jamie's hand. "Hey! Be careful what you say around Jamie! He's still a kid."

"It's okay, Miss Yoshi," Jamie reassured, smiling up at the actress. "I know those words are bad ones I shouldn't say."

Kitty squealed, ruffling the boy's hair. "You are just too sweet! You're even sweeter than this panther I once tamed named Molly, and she was the sweetest thing I ever met."

Fera breathed a sigh, slowly entering the room. "From one dusty tomb to another."

"Forgive me for interrupting our delightful banter, but it appears we have three more people in our party," Minemi interjected. She pointed her parasol right at Alice, Gemma, and the toddler.

"Are you all here to rescue us?" Gemma asked, eyes sparkling with hope.

Rafaela sighed, scratching the back of her neck. "'Fraid not, Pointy Ears. We woke up here just like you." The elf deflated, her shoulders slumping as she leaned against Alice.

"Forgive me for asking, but are you an elf?" Fera inquired. Gemma nodded, remaining silent.

Alice gently brushed some stray hairs hanging in front of Gemma's face away. "It'll be okay, dear." She glanced back up at the group. "So, I suppose introductions are in order." Everyone in the room, excluding Gemma and the boy in Alice's arms, introduced themselves fairly quickly.

Kitty turned her attention to the toddler. "So, what's this little cutie's name?"

Alice chuckled. "I honestly don't know. He hasn't said a word since we got here. He's cried and whined, but nothing else." The toddler shifted in Alice's arms before pointing at the pacifier. "Do you want your paci, Sweetie?" He shook his head, pointing again. Alice gently grabbed the pacifier before cocking an eyebrow. There was kanji written on the shield. "Uhm…Minemi, Yoshi, Shinya, could one of you translate?" Alice twisted the pacifier around so that the writing could be visible.

Minemi, who was the closest to the caregiver, peered forward before smiling. "Hideki Inoue. I guess that's the little one's name." The toddler nodded, a smile appearing on his face.

Alice smiled down at the toddler, gently placing his pacifier in his mouth. "Hello, Hideki. I promise that we'll get you out of here."

"Forgive me for interrupting this sweet moment, but we need to leave the room," Shinya interjected, arms crossed over his chest.

"And what makes you say that?" Rafaela questioned.

Shinya shrugged. "Oh I don't know. Maybe the counter above the door that says we have twenty seconds left." Everyone snapped their heads over to the door. Twenty seconds were on the timer just as Shinya had said.

"Everyone, grab a pack and sleeping bag, and book it!" Rafaela ordered. Everyone rushed to get one of each from the pile. Alice helped Jamie with his backpack, while Rafaela stood by the door to hold it open for everyone. "All of you, go, go, go!" Yoshi and Fera stumbled out of the room first, Jamie being pulled along with them. Kitty flew out right afterwards, followed by Alice, Gemma, and Hideki. Shinya, Minemi, and Rafaela were the last to run out. The door slammed shut behind them. A loud buzzer could be heard, and the sound of several locks being locked immediately followed.

"D-Do you think we're done?" Kitty questioned, looking at the group nervously. The group was silent, uncertain.

Fera glanced down the hallway, eyebrows raised. "We are many miles from home, and it seems that we aren't alone."

Minemi looked in the same direction before chuckling. Yoshi raised an eyebrow, very obviously confused. "Hey, Minemi, do you have any idea what Fera just said?"

The gothic lolita moved to look back at the group. "In Fera's own way, he basically said there are more people down the hallway. I would have to guess they're all in the exact same situation as us too." She raised a hand to cover her mouth. "Tehehe! We are in a game it seems! This will be very interesting!"

* * *

**? Survivors Remain**

**? Limbs Lost**

* * *

***AN* So the first chapter is finally here! I would once again like to thank everyone who submitted a character into this story, whether they were accepted or not. I would also like to thank the amazing betas who helped make this chapter so much better! And finally, once again, a big thanks to Crit Fail for letting me write this story in the first place! I hope you like what the Maze has to offer. **


	3. Chapter 2: Beginning Trials Act 2

**Chapter 2: Beginning Trials Act 2**

**9:04 A.M. Day 1**

**Floor 5**

**Hallway**

Lucille groaned, grasping onto her head as she woke up. Her head was killing her. She ran a hand through her short blonde hair, while opening her eyes. Surrounding her were walls made of dark gray bricks. Three of them each held a white door. Two backpacks and sleeping bags laid in the corner of the room. Despite this, though, Lucille's focus landed on the blonde girl lying next to her.

What first caught Lucille's attention was the girl's outfit: A frilly, pink skirt; a sleeveless black and pink top; frilly, black thigh-high stockings; pink ribbon sandals; and pink detached sleeves. Black silk gloves adorned her arms. Atop her head rested a black headband with a giant, pink bow attached to it. The second thing that caught Lucille's attention was her pink-hilted katana, resting in a black scabbard attached to her right hip. As Lucille stared at the girl, she couldn't help but chuckle. "I never thought I'd see a girl cosplaying as Kirarin," she muttered.

The girl in the cosplay shifted in her sleep, turning to face Lucille. When her eyes fluttered open, Lucille smiled down at her. "Bonjour, ma belle. Glad to see that you are alright."

"Oh my gosh, are you French?" A smile quickly sprouted on her face. Despite having just been unconscious, she had a surplus amount of energy. "Because that would be, like, so cool!"

Lucille, not about to let such a cute girl take her by surprise, kept her smile. "Indeed, I am, ma cherie. The name's Lucille DuCarde, the Ultimate F-1 Racer extraordinaire! And what is your name?"

The other blonde shot up from where she had been sitting, her bright smile still present. "I'm everyone's favorite Iaido Idol, the one and only Tenshi-sama! And now that I'm awake, we can get this party started!" Lucille raised an eyebrow, making Tenshi give the Racer a small glare. "What?"

"I would have guessed someone as beautiful as you was the Ultimate Cosplayer," Lucille responded. "Especially with how well-done your Kirarin costume is."

Tenshi gasped, her smile returning. "Oh. My. Gawd. You've seen Sainan Shoujo! Most people have either never seen it or watched an episode and stopped because of all the gory stuff! And, like, that's totally fair, but Kirarin is just so fashionable! And don't I just look fabulous? Think very carefully; there's only one right answer here."

Lucille playfully rolled her eyes as she stood up. She then grabbed hold of Tenshi's hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. "Ma belle, you look simply amazing."

Tenshi giggled. "Well, duh, but thank you anyways. It's good to know that someone appreciates my beauty." She then looked around the room. "So… Do you know where we are, Lucy?"

"Non, ma belle, I do not." Lucille glanced back over at the packs and sleeping bags, having seen something fall over there from the corner of her eye. Sure enough, a piece of paper now laid by the packs. The Racer walked over to the note and picked it up. Her eyes widened. "It's a map!"

"Why would we need a map?" Tenshi questioned. Lucille motioned around the room. "Never mind, I get why. But, like, that still doesn't tell us where we are." Tenshi huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as her eyes wandered around the room. "I swear, I'mma cut a bitch when I figure out who brought me here." She glanced back at Lucille. "Anything yet?"

"Give me a moment, ma belle," Lucille responded, keeping her eyes on the map. "Okay, so the door in front of us goes straight into a pit with spikes. If we go right or left, then we go into a room labelled 'Challenge Room.' The left has a key on it, so we'll probably get a key to something, while the right has weapons."

"Well, it's obvious which room we should go to!" Tenshi interjected with a smirk. "Tenshi-sama will keep us both safe with her katana skills!"

Lucille smiled. "Well, if I am to be with the Ultimate Iaidoka, then I suppose we can go to the other room." The Racer bent over to grab the two backpacks and sleeping bags, holding out one of each for the Iaidoka. Tenshi took hold of the items, but not before letting her hand linger on Lucille's. If the Racer felt her heart race at the gesture, she made sure not to show it.

Lucille slung her backpack over her shoulders before walking over to the door on the left and holding it open. "Après tu, ma belle."

Tenshi giggled before skipping over to the door. "You are, like, so sweet, Lucy. I'm going to have to repay you." She walked over the threshold, leaving behind a stunned Lucille.

Lucille blinked a few times, regaining her focus. "Holy shit…" A bright grin broke out across the Racer's face. "It feels like I just won first place! She's energetic and can use a sword!"

"Lucy, are you gonna stand there like a dummy or get in here?" Tenshi called out. "Cause I think these keys might be useful!" Lucille chuckled and followed her into the room.

The door slammed shut and locked right behind her, the sound of several keys jingling following soon after. Tenshi and Lucille briefly jumped at the noise. Once the shock had passed, Lucille began to examine the room. Rings of keys lined all four walls from the floor to the ceiling, excluding where a second door stood. Two large vents were opposite from one another at the top of two walls.

Lucille shoved the map into the jacket of her red F-1 racer suit just as something landed on her head. The Racer was about to pluck it off her head when Tenshi somehow beat her to it. "Ha! Got it first, Lucy!" Lucille blinked at the smaller girl but didn't say a word. Tenshi stared down at it. "Oh, it's a note that's like a poem! Find the keys in three minutes to help you escape, or else you'll meet a sailor's fate. The clue is hidden in your crap." Tenshi raised an eyebrow. "Well that's a crappy way to end a poem."

Lucille nodded in agreement before pausing. "What was the first part of that note?" Before Tenshi could respond, water began to pour into the room from the vents. "Holy shit!"

"Oh my gosh!" Tenshi squealed. She glared up at the ceiling. "To whoever brought us here, you better hope that my makeup doesn't get ruined! Otherwise I'll literally cut you into pieces!"

Ignoring Tenshi's complaints, Lucille began looking around the room for something to block the vents with. "We can't use the keys," she muttered. "And the bags might be useful." Lucille turned her attention back to Tenshi, who was still shouting about her makeup. "Tenshi, ma belle, do you have anything we could use to block the vents?" Tenshi shook her head. However, from the way the confident girl suddenly clammed up, Lucille could tell the Iaidoka was lying. "Tenshi, tell me the truth."

Tenshi cast her gaze away from Lucille. "Like hell Tenshi-sama is giving up her wig!"

Lucille sighed, running a hand through her cropped hair. She slowly began to step towards the smaller blonde. "Tenshi, we do not have much time to argue," Lucille reminded. "Please, your wig might be able to buy some extra time." Tenshi shook her head, wrapping her right hand around the hilt of her katana.

Lucille bit her lip, quickly getting two ideas. She could flirt with Tenshi and get her to voluntarily give her the wig, or she could steal the wig. Admittedly, stealing the wig would be far easier. However, it could make Tenshi uncooperative and also unlikely to respond to Lucille's flirting anymore. Lucille took a quick breath and walked over to Tenshi, then grabbed the girl's chin and forced her to meet her gaze. "Ma cherie, why do you feel the need to wear a wig when you are already so gorgeous?"

"Am… Am I really gorgeous?" Tenshi whispered, her cheeks flushing pink. She quickly sharpened her gaze and averted her eyes. "I mean, I already know that I am, obviously, but go on."

Lucille forced herself to not laugh at the Iaidoka's response. "Ma belle, if I had the time, I would describe every way that you look beautiful." She glanced down at the ground, the water already up to her knees. "However, the water is coming in fast."

Tenshi bit her lip before responding. "Let me get on your back." Lucille raised an eyebrow at the demand. "The vent's way too far up for you to reach, Lucy, and while I'm totally strong enough to carry you, there's no way in hell I'm letting my outfit be ruined." Lucille playfully rolled her eyes before kneeling down and letting the Iaidoka hop onto her shoulders. Sloshing through the water and over to the nearest vent, Tenshi tore off her wig and shoved it into the gaps, effectively stopping the flow from the vent.

Tenshi hopped off Lucille's back, allowing Lucille to see the Iaidoka without her wig. Instead of long blonde hair, Tenshi had auburn hair styled in a short bob cut with frayed bangs. It was a stark contrast to the wig, and it made her look stunning. Tenshi rolled her eyes. "Come on, Lucy. Let's find those keys!" Lucille nodded, giving herself a small slap on the cheek for good measure. "Now, the note ended off saying that the clue was with our crap…We do have a map. Maybe it has a clue." Lucille complied, reaching into her jacket and removing the map. She unfolded it and moved so that Tenshi could get a good view. The water, despite only coming out of one vent, was now up to their hips.

Lucille passed the map over to Tenshi. "Ma belle, you look at the map. I'm going to look at the keys." Before the auburn-haired girl could respond, Lucille rushed over to the furthest wall and started examining it. As she looked it over, she noticed that, painted on the ceiling, were the numbers one through four.

"Hey, Lucy, I figured out something that might help!" Tenshi called out. "Based off the room we were just in, along with the one we're in currently, we're in Hallway Two, according to the map. And, if we survive this challenge, we'll be entering Hallway Three and will be near a room labelled Theta, which leads into rooms Zeta, and Alpha, which will get us into Hallway Two again?! What the hell?! This map makes, like, no sense! Where the hell are we?!"

While Tenshi had been reading off the information, Lucille had moved over to the wall with the number two painted above it and began examining the rings of keys. Each ring held three small keys, each one with a different letter painted onto it, and one large key made of iron. T, K, L. G, F, B. The series of letters went on and on, but none of them were the three letters that Tenshi had read off. The water was now up to Lucille's chest. "Lucy!" Tenshi called out, waving the map in the air as she kicked to keep herself afloat.

Lucille rushed over to the girl. She drew in a deep breath before going under the water and moving between Tenshi's legs. Once she was certain that Tenshi would be secure, Lucille went back above the water, lifting Tenshi onto her shoulders. Tenshi squealed. "Lucy! Oh my gosh! Give a girl a warning next time!"

"Tenshi, ma belle, start looking for keys with the letters for those rooms you read off," Lucille ordered, trudging back over to the wall. Lucille heard a pop, followed by the sound of more water gushing into the room. Lucille looked back at the vent they had plugged up and cursed. The wig had been pushed out by the force of the water. The water quickly made its way up to her neck. "Tenshi, anytime now!"

"I'm still looking, Lucy!" Tenshi retorted. She continued searching through the keys before gasping. "I found it! Hallway Two keys with a T, Z, and A!" Lucille breathed a sigh of relief and began to practically swim over to where the door was with Tenshi on her shoulders. The water was now at her chin.

Once they were in front of the door, Lucille brought her hand out of the water and opened it. "Ma belle, something tells me that large key will open this door, so if you could get that one to the front." As soon as Lucille felt the keys placed in her hand, she immediately shoved it into the lock of the door and twisted it, hoping for the best.

* * *

**9:09 A.M. Day 1**

**Floor 5**

**Room Theta**

Christel glanced around the room, letting out a huff. She stared at the cuff around her stocking-covered ankle. "Well, this is certainly an interesting situation to be in to say the least." Her eyes traveled over to the hacksaw sitting right by her. She glanced up at the ceiling. "To whoever is doing this, there are more original ways to see someone bleed! Look at the Kuma Kuma Land killing game! They killed off eighty people in a matter of minutes, and that was with a rollercoaster!"

"Don't remind me," a young man hissed. Christel turned her head to look at her newly awakened cellmate.

He wore a plague doctor mask made of brown leather and metal; a rain-proof, long-sleeve, padded, red-brown shirt; a dark red SAR vest; brown utility pants; a safety fire belt; NRS workboot wetshoes; Kevlar gloves; and a flame-retardant cloak with a hood and tightened straps. Similarly to Christel, he had a metal cuff around his ankle. Christel hummed at his odd appearance. The young man growled and glared at her through dark, tinted lenses. "I lost my sister because of that game."

Christel raised an eyebrow. "Your sister was in the Kuma Kuma Land killing game?"

The man sighed. "She was on the rollercoaster."

"At least you know she's dead," another young man argued. Christel snapped her head over to the other wall, and her eyes widened at what she saw.

Sitting by her was what she could best describe as a giant, anthropomorphic cat. He had a muzzle, a small black nose with a dot of peach, sharp teeth, a long furry tail with subtle darker stripes, hocked legs, whiskers, and slightly large cat ears on the sides of his head. His entire body was covered in a golden-brown outer coat and a white undercoat with tabby-like marks all over his body. Despite the fur, the young man was wearing a pair of red shorts and a gray cloak.

Christel sighed. "Of all the things I thought I'd see, I never thought a giant cat would be one of them."

The cat-man turned to look at Christel, tilting his head to the side. "Christel Dreynamo, aren't you a sight for sore eyes? What're you doing here?"

"You know this ball of fluff?" the man with the mask questioned.

"I think I would remember meeting a giant cat before today," Christel retorted.

The cat-man chuckled, his smile growing. "Christel, it's me, Iyasa! We were in the same class at Hope's Peak!" Christel peered forward at the giant cat-man again, letting out a small gasp.

The man with the mask scoffed. "No offense, whiskers, but I don't think a kid like her could go to Hope's Peak just yet."

Christel let out a small growl. "Verdammt! I might be small, but I am not a child! I'm twenty-years-old! And at least I can remember Iyasa, even if he is now a giant cat!"

"Technically, I'm a mngwa," Iyasa interrupted.

Christel ignored her former classmate in favor of continuing her miniature rant. "I don't remember seeing a plague doctor at Hope's Peak! I can at least say I have a talent that isn't creepy!"

Iyasa looked over at the man, his head tilting. "Kekeke, you're going to want to hold off on any short jokes if you want to leave this room with your life," Iyasa argued, watching as Christel's fists clenched. "Only two people were ever dumb enough to call Christel a child, and the fact they were able to leave the hospital after a week is still amazing."

Christel rolled her eyes, calming down at the joke. "I wasn't that bad, Iya. Cadoc called me a child, and I never attacked him."

"That's 'cause he would've cracked your skull before you even landed a fist on him," Iyasa retorted, snickering. He turned his attention back to the man in the mask. "Who are you, Masked Man?"

The man in the mask sighed. "I am Heikki Ruutikainen, and I am the former Ultimate Rescuer. You're free to call me Henry. Just to warn you both; do not touch me."

"I don't remember an Ultimate Rescuer during our time at Hope's Peak, either," Christel grumbled. She glanced over at Iyasa, who shrugged.

Henry shook his head. "I accepted the title, but I never actually attended."

Christel hummed. "I didn't know you could do that." She adjusted her checkered Stormy Kromer cap. "Well, since you introduced yourself, I should return the favor. Christel Dreynamo, the Former Ultimate Train Conductor, at your service!"

Iyasa snickered. "Kekekeke, might as well introduce myself now. I'm Iyasa Rivieras. I was the Ultimate Pet Detective, but I think it's more accurate to call myself the former Ultimate Mngwa."

"What happened to you, anyways?" Christel questioned.

The mngwa shrugged. "Well, all I remember is that Ultimate Despair caught me and knocked me out. When I woke up, I realized I was covered in fur."

Henry sighed. "And now we're here, and we basically have to cut our feet off to escape." He slumped against the wall he was sitting against. "We'd all probably die from bleeding out in a matter of minutes, assuming you guys don't have a thread and needle or something to cauterize our wounds."

"Kekeke, I can already tell you're going to be a delight," Iyasa teased. "So… Since we're deciding to just give up and not cut off our feet, does someone have a ball I could play with while we wait for our captors to get bored and kill us?"

Christel cocked an eyebrow. "I know I already asked this, but what happened to you?"

"The assholes who turned him into a giant cat probably fucked with his mind too," Henry guessed. "And sorry, Mittens, but I don't have a ball for you."

Iyasa grumbled, picking at the bandages wrapped around his arms. "I'm not a cat, and at least I'm not wearing a plague doctor mask like a weirdo."

Henry scoffed. "Coming from the giant cat man asking for a fucking ball to play with, that's rich."

Iyasa let out a hiss, the hair on his back standing on edge. "I'm not a cat; I'm a mngwa! And if you call me a cat again, I'll scratch you!"

"I fucking dare you to!" Henry shouted.

"Both of you, stop arguing now!" Christel interjected.

"Shut up, half-pint, this doesn't concern you; the adults are talking!" Henry retorted. Christel's eyes narrowed, and her fists clenched.

Iyasa froze. Any anger he was holding was now completely gone. "Christel, you good?" Christel let out a small growl, making the mngwa cling to his wall out of fear. "Christel, whatever you're thinking of doing to Henry, don't do it."

Henry chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. "What's the kid going to do to me? Kick my shins and call me a meanie?" Before either could react, Christel let out a loud, almost animalistic growl and charged at Henry, her chain breaking into small bits as she did. Christel then got onto Henry's back and wrapped her right arm around his neck, putting the Rescuer into a chokehold. Henry tensed up, his breathing beginning to quicken.

"Call me a kid again!" Christel shouted. "Call me a fucking kid again! I dare you!" Iyasa rushed towards the two, his chains breaking in a similar fashion to Christel's. He grabbed the Conductor by the shoulders and tore her off Henry. Christel kicked and writhed in Iyasa's grip. "Let me go! Let me fight the bastard! No one calls me small!"

Iyasa tightened his hold on the girl. "Christel! The guy who could potentially be a serial killer literally told us not to touch him, and you just put him in a fucking chokehold!" This effectively made Christel lose any fight in her. The two stared at Henry, eyes wide with fear.

The Rescuer rubbed at his throat before snapping his head back up at the two, tearing off his mask. Gray-blue eyes glared at the two, his breathing still erratic. "I fucking said don't touch me," he hissed.

"I'm so sorry, Henry; I wasn't thinking," Christel argued. Henry paused for a moment, eyes wandering down to her and Iyasa's ankles.

"Well, your not-thinking just gave us a clue to freedom," Henry muttered. He stood up and jerked his leg as hard as he could. However, his chain remained intact. "What the… How come yours broke, but mine didn't?" Iyasa tapped his chin before bending down and grabbing a fragment of what was his ankle-chain. He sniffed it before licking it. "What are you doing? That could cut your tongue!"

Iyasa snickered. "I don't think chocolate could cut my tongue." He grabbed a portion of Christel's ankle chain and licked it as well. "Oh, white chocolate!"

"If our chains were made of chocolate, then why isn't Henry's?" Christel questioned.

"Because my luck sucks, that's why," Henry grumbled. He glanced over at the hacksaw. "Maybe the people who did this really did want one of us to bleed."

"But why you?" Christel pressed. "That just seems wrong."

Henry shrugged, reaching over to the hacksaw. "That's what Ultimate Despair is all about." He sighed, grabbing his mask and strapping it back on over his face. "I don't think you guys are going to want to see my face during this."

"You don't have to do this," Christel muttered, turning away from the two. She paused when she saw a piece of paper on the ground where Iyasa had been sitting. "Wait! You really might not have to!" She rushed to grab it and began to read it aloud. "Three chains here, but which ones are fake? One is quite real, but there's a means of escape. Cut off your foot if you want the way, or risk dying down here by the end of the day." The train conductor dropped the note in defeat. "I'm sorry."

Henry sighed, his grip on the hacksaw tightening. "Thank you for trying, Christel, but there's no other way." He turned his head to look at Iyasa. "Can I use those bandages?" Iyasa nodded, already beginning to unwrap them. Henry placed the blade of the saw right at his ankle, drawing in a tight breath. He then made the first swipe across his ankle.

Christel hid her face in her hands while Iyasa turned around to face the wall. Henry sawed at his ankle, pain coursing through him as blood seeped from the ever-deeper wound. Henry soon hit something hard, and he could not hold back a scream at the pain he felt. He had hit his bone. Sawing through the bone was the most painful part, and the sound of Christel's whimpering did not help. When he finally made it through the bone, Henry could feel himself on the verge of passing out. Whether it was from the pain or the blood loss, he wasn't sure.

The former Rescuer cut through the last bit of muscle and skin before letting the hacksaw fall to the ground with a clang. Darkness began to tint his vision as Iyasa rushed over to his side, unwound bandages in hand. Henry could hear the door opening, followed by the scream of a young woman, just as he lost consciousness.

* * *

**9:12 A.M. Day 1**

**Floor 5**

**Room Zeta**

Anthony awoke to the sound of someone screaming. He shot up from his spot, head snapping around to find the source. However, upon finishing his initial scan, he saw that only one other person was awake in the room: a small girl with long black hair pulled into a ponytail, who was searching through a group of bags in the corner of the room. The girl was wearing a black jacket over a sleeveless gray blouse, white short shorts, a black leather belt, a checkered scarf around her neck, black fingerless gloves, and knee-high black leather boots. What concerned Anthony the most were the guns strapped to the sides of the girl's belt.

"Excuse me," Anthony called out. The girl perked up and snapped her head over in Anthony's direction. Without warning, she drew the gun on her right side and pointed it right at Anthony. "Whoa! Okay, okay! There's no need to start any violence!"

"You look just like that psychopath from the killing game on the moon base," the girl stated.

Anthony let out a sigh. "Another way my siblings have screwed me over." He quickly unbuttoned his white dress shirt, revealing the bright electromagnet on his chest and his tattoo. "As much as my brother loved inflicting pain, he didn't have a heart replacement or a tattoo!" The girl cocked her head to the side, her gun still pointed at Anthony.

"What is your name?" she questioned.

"Anthony Rufheiser, the Ultimate Artificial Lifeform. And you?"

The girl slowly lowered her gun. "I'm Yui Yukimura, and that is all you need to know. I've determined that you're not that psychopath, but I'm still uncertain if you're anything like him." She tucked her gun back into her belt. "If I decide I can trust you, then I'll tell you my talent. Same goes for them."

Anthony nodded. "I would say that's better than nothing… Wait, them?" Yui nodded, gesturing over at the wall right next to her. Two young men were laying there. One was slumped against the wall, while the other was curled up on the floor.

The one slumped against the wall was a rather tall young man with very light brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. He was wearing a black outfit with a white t-shirt being the only thing that went against the theme. Similarly to Yui, he also had a weapon strapped to his side. However, rather than a gun, it was a sword.

The other on the ground had a far scruffier, yet smaller look to him. He had scruffy, plum hair cut in a jagged style with a single streak of gray running down his fringe. He was wearing a green camo hoodie that was unzipped far enough to show a black t-shirt, light brown camo shorts rolled to his knees, latex blue gloves, a light brown scarf, and a pair of dark brown boots. He, too, had a gun resting in a holster.

"Why does everyone have a weapon?" Anthony muttered.

"You don't?" Yui questioned.

Anthony rolled his eyes before turning out the pockets in his pants and his suit jacket. He even revealed the inside of his jacket for emphasis. "I already showed you my chest, so you know I have nothing strapped to it. I don't see the point in carrying around weapons."

Yui nodded, appearing to fall into a deep thought. After a moment of silence, a groan broke through. Anthony snapped his head over to the two young men; just the smaller man on the ground sat up. "Where am I?" he muttered, adjusting his gloves. Anthony and Yui watched as he reached up to his face and adjusted something there as well. "The Future Foundation's sent me to some weird places before, but I think this takes the cake."

"You're from the Future Foundation, too?" Anthony questioned. The young man spun around, his right eye wide open. Anthony and the young man stared at each other for a moment before the two smiled. "Takeshi…" Anthony rushed forward and wrapped the plum-haired man in a tight hug.

Yui stared back and forth at the men, eyes narrowed. "Who is he, and how do you two know each other?"

"That's what I'd like to know as well," a voice cut in. Anthony glanced over at the man with the sword, who was now wide awake and making his way to his feet. Takeshi pulled back from the hug, staring up at the tall young man with frightened eyes. "You'll have to forgive me for playing dead for a moment, but I wanted to see if my cellmates were Ultimate Despairs." The young man smiled at the three. "A pleasure to meet all of you. I am Gilbert Robbins, but you may also call me Sir Blaze. I am the Ultimate Knight." He glanced at Anthony and Yui. "I heard both of you introduce yourselves, so that just leaves the soldier right here."

Takeshi nodded, clearing his throat. "Well, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Gilbert and…" Takeshi peered over Anthony at Yui.

"Yui."

Takeshi nodded. "I'm Takeshi Abe, but y-you're free to call me Keshi if that's easier. And i-if it wasn't already obvious by my attire, my talent is military-oriented. I'm the Ultimate Combat Medic."

"How do you two know each other?" Yui's right hand went for one of her guns.

"Takeshi and I met when I started working for the Future Foundation," Anthony responded.

Yui cocked an eyebrow. "You work for them?"

"Considering the Future Foundation's history, I don't think it's too shocking for a clone of a psychopath to be a member," Gilbert argued.

Anthony sighed. "Technically speaking, Dylan is my brother." He ran a hand through his slicked-back hair. "That doesn't matter, though. Right now, we need to figure out where we are and how to get out."

Takeshi gave Anthony a shocked look. "You don't know where we are?"

"Do you?" Anthony questioned.

"I th-thought that maybe I was just placed here for a m-mission," Takeshi muttered.

"Well, this is great," Yui grumbled. "The two people from Future Foundation don't know why we're here, and we're locked in this room with no way out." As if on cue, a piece of paper and a box of matches fell from the ceiling into the center of the small group. The group snapped their heads up to see if a way of escaping had appeared, but there was nothing.

Takeshi reached forward and grabbed the paper. "F-Find the hole and meet the r-rest of your group. Be c-careful or you'll t-turn into soup… Did I just misread that or does it r-really say that?" Anthony and Gilbert glanced at the note.

"It seems the note says soup, Keshi," Gilbert clarified.

Anthony bit his lip, uncertain of how to go about this. However, he did not have much time to worry, for he heard bricks falling a few seconds later. He spun around to see Yui standing by a small hole in the wall to the right of them. "What did you do?" he questioned.

Yui stared at the hole before looking back at Anthony. "I found the hole the note was talking about."

Anthony let out a frustrated sigh while Takeshi and Gilbert snickered. Takeshi cleared his throat. "I think what Tony m-means is, how did y-you figure out to hit th-that spot?"

Yui shrugged. "I saw that the portion I pushed was a different shade between the spot and the rest of the wall."

Gilbert stepped over to the wall and knelt down so that he could look through the hole. From what he could see, there were three people past it, but they were shrouded in darkness. "Hello!" Gilbert shouted. The three perked up, and Gilbert swore he saw one of them look towards him.

"Oh, sweet, someone's here to rescue us!" A boy cheered, a strong New Zealand accent coming through.

"Oh, thank goodness," a girl sighed. "For a moment, I thought we would be stuck here forever."

Gilbert bowed his head and let out a sigh before looking back through the hole. "I'm sorry to inform you that I'm not much of a rescue party. I'm stuck here just like you two. There are three more people in here with me."

The girl in the room whimpered. "Well, at least we might be able to escape from this place once you get us out of here." There was a moment of silence. "You guys do have a way to help us escape, right?"

"Well, we received a note along with a box of matches," Anthony stated, walking over to the hole with the box of matches in hand. "Do either of you have something that we could use the matches on?"

"Oh, oh, oh! I do! I have something we can use the matches on!" Another young man shouted. "Let me get over to that hole real quick and you can pass the matches!" Anthony and Gilbert heard some shuffling around on the other side of the wall. "Alright, pass them over!" Anthony slid the box of matches through the hole, earning a loud laugh from the boy. "Oh yeah! We're about to have a blast!"

"Sh-Should we be concerned?" Takeshi questioned.

Gilbert shrugged. "I think we'll be fine." A moment later a match lighting followed by a loud hiss could be heard.

"Still think we'll be fine?" Yui retorted, arms crossed. Without warning, the door also flew open and five more people stumbled into the room. What was most concerning was the fact one of the people looked like a giant cat, and the other guy was missing his right foot and being carried by two of the girls. "What the heck?"

"What happened to him?!" Takeshi cried, rushing over to the man missing a foot.

"He had to cut his foot off to escape our room," Christel explained. "Tenshi, Lucille, lay him down here."

"Hey, I don't know what's going on over there, but anyone near the hole might want to move now!" the boy with the New Zealand accent shouted. Anthony and Gilbert shared a look before sprinting away from the wall.

"Can someone explain to Tenshi-sama just what is going on?!" Tenshi demanded.

"We woke up in here and were told to find the hole in the wall, and someone on the other side of that hole has something to bring down the rest of it," Yui explained, remaining calm. She then looked over at Christel. "They brought another twelve-year-old here?"

Christel grumbled, but she was intercepted by Iyasa. "Christel, she's a kid. Don't attack her."

"I am not that short," she huffed.

The second boy giggled just as the hissing began to grow louder. "Fire in the hole! Quite literally, for once." The hissing stopped, and a loud whistling noise quickly followed it. The wall came crumbling down not a second later. Sure enough, three people stood on the other side of the wall, two boys and one girl.

The taller of the two boys was a young man with curly, chocolate brown hair and tan skin. He wore an old, yet ornate and fancy, traditional feathered poncho, that was colored white, yellow, sky blue, and orange; pants and small boots that matched his poncho; a tanned, feathered sombrero on his head; and a long, flowing scarf that matched the color scheme of his poncho.

The smaller of the boys had cerulean blue hair that was tied into a foxtail and arms covered in galaxy-patterned tattoo sleeves. He was wearing an open blue vest over a white tank top; black jeans; beige sandals; and a red bandana scarf with a white mandala pattern around his neck.

This then left the girl. Her top half looked like a normal girl, excluding the small fang that poked out from her mouth, with soft brown hair that fell to her waist in waterfall braids. However, her bottom half looked like a spider's. She was wearing a hot pink bikini top; a black mesh that covered her waist; and a pair of arm bands that match her skin tone.

The boy with curly hair laughed. "That was amazing! I knew my fireworks were powerful, but I never thought they could bring down a whole wall!"

"You did that on the chance it would work?!" the other boy exclaimed "What are ya, crazy?!"

"We could've died if that didn't work!" the girl snapped.

"Well, we didn't, and it did work," the first boy argued.

"Pardonne moi, but I think there are more pressing matters at the moment," Lucille interrupted. "Starting with, who are all of you?"

The curly haired boy smiled at the small group standing in front of him. "Hey, hey, what's up? I'm Percy Alpina, the Ultimate Fireworks Enthusiast! Let's have a BLAST together!" Half of the group groaned at the pun while the other half chuckled. The two standing by Percy chuckled themselves.

The girl with the spider-half bowed her head and smiled at the group. "This may seem entertaining, but you can liken me to the myth of Arachne down to the name, talent, and curse."

Tenshi eyed the spider-half warily. "So long as you don't turn into a rat, I don't have an issue with you."

"Uh, thanks, I guess," Arachne responded, uncertain of how to feel.

The shorter boy chuckled. "Guess that just leaves me, huh? Name's Garnet Maddigan. Nice to meet all of ya. I'm the Ultimate Acrobat."

"Forgive me f-for interrupting, but has a-anyone else n-noticed the timer up there?" Takeshi pointed at the clock above the door on Percy, Garnet, and Arachne's side of the wall. The time was now down to twenty seconds.

"Kekeke, it would seem we need to get going or something bad might happen to us," Iyasa commented.

"Everyone, grab a pack and sleeping bag!" Tenshi ordered. "Lucy and I will get the door unlocked!" The Iaidoka grabbed Lucille's arm and pulled her over to the door while everyone scrambled to grab their packs. Iyasa grabbed two, one for Henry since he was still out cold.

With eight seconds left on the clock, Lucille flung the door open, having unlocked it. Everyone in the room piled out of the room, Gilbert and Takeshi dragging Henry out of there. Just as Tenshi and Lucille flew out of the room, the door slammed shut behind them.

"That was way too close!" Christel shouted, staring at the now locked door with wide eyes. Iyasa and Gilbert set Henry down on the ground, allowing Takeshi to begin examining Henry's right leg.

Lucille cracked a wide grin "Yes, but it was so exciting! My blood was rushing, and I loved it!"

Tenshi giggled. "I guess it was pretty exciting."

"It wasn't as fun as firing off a firecracker, but it was still pretty fun," Percy added.

"I can get behind that, Percy," Garnet responded, smiling brightly.

Anthony stared at the thrill-seekers of the group, worry in his eyes. "Keshi, do you still carry bandages?"

Takeshi nodded, his eyes not leaving Henry. "Yes, why?"

"Something tells me we're going to need them," Anthony stated.

"Hey!" A girl shouted. Everyone in the group turned their attention to the end of the hallway as another group made their way down. Rafaela stomped towards the group. "Were you guys forced to go through some crazy cock-and-bullshit rooms to get out here?"

"That's one way to say it," Lucille grumbled, her jumpsuit still soaked.

"So it appears my theory is right," Minemi muttered. "We are in a game."

"A game?" Gilbert questioned. "Fair maiden, what do you mean by that?"

Minemi rolled her eyes. "What I mean is that we've been dragged into some sort of game by Ultimate Despair."

"But all of those games are killing games," Christel argued.

"Ultimate Despair wouldn't just change their formula," Anthony added.

Minemi hummed. "That is a good point, Anthony, but maybe they're wanting to test something." Anthony stared at the silver-haired girl, shocked that she knew his name.

"Like what, Mimi?" Rafaela questioned.

Mimi drew in a sharp breath, her eye twitching as she prepared to begin her explanation. However, before she could say a word, a cell phone rang. Everyone was silent as the ringing continued for another few seconds. Alice then let out a small gasp. "Everyone, check your bags. One of the bags in our group had a phone in it." Excluding Jamie, Henry, and Hideki, everyone in the group of twenty-two began to dig through their bags.

Kitty gasped, pulling the phone out of her pack. "I found it!" She held it out for everyone to see. On the screen was a caller ID simply labelled "The Beast."

"What are you waiting for?" Shinya snapped. "Accept the call." Kitty nodded, shakily pressing the green button.

There was a moment of silence on the other line. However, it did not last for long. A distorted, medium-pitch voice began to speak over the line. "_**I'm so glad to see that every member of our party is alive and well… Well, not entirely well.**_" Everyone glanced over at Henry, who was being stitched up by Takeshi. "_**While some of you might have realized it already, I'll go ahead and spell it out for the rest of you. You all are in a game. Even if it isn't your typical killing game, you're still in a game. A game where all of you are going to truly taste despair!**_"

Alice's grip on Hideki tightened just a bit.

"Could we maybe play a different game?" Gemma requested, a sad yet hopeful look on her face.

Arachne gripped her arms with fear in her eyes. "No, no, no, no! I can't do this!"

The Beast continued, ignoring the two. "_**Lucille, Tenshi, both of you received a map. This map will guide you throughout the fifth floor of my maze. In order to escape the maze, anyone who's still alive has to make it to the center before nine p.m. on the third day.**_"

"Now this is far more interesting than what I was guessing," Minemi muttered.

"How the fuck can you find this interesting?!" Rafaela exclaimed. Her hands clenched into fists. "We've been kidnapped by Despair shitwarts! Not only that, we have four kids with us!"

Christel growled, rushing towards Rafaela, only to get picked up by Iyasa. "Verdammt, I am twenty! Iyasa, let me at her!"

"Christel, now is not the time!" Iyasa reprimanded.

Tenshi gripped onto Lucille's arm. "Lucy, if this is real... I swear, I'll cut down anyone who attacks me, including you." Her voice had an uncharacteristic edge to it.

Lucille smiled down at the girl. "Ma belle, I would never attack a lovely lady such as yourself unless you came after me first."

The impending chaos was interrupted by loud laughter from the phone. "_**Are things getting tense already? I sure hope no one gets killed before you've even left the bottom floor. That would be just terrible… For everyone who isn't the killer, that is.**_"

"Mister… Ma'am… Whoever you are, what do you mean by that?" Jamie inquired.

"_**So glad to hear the Ultimate Brat has found his voice**_," the Beast taunted. Jamie whimpered, prompting Alice to use her free arm to hug him. "_**While this might not be a Killing Game, there is still an incentive to kill. There are many places in this maze where you could very easily commit a murder. The moment one of you drops dead, everyone gets five minutes to figure out who did it. At the end of that time, if you can't name a person, the murderer gets a one-way ticket to the Center of the maze.**_" Everyone was silent as they processed the Beast's words.

Takeshi was the first to speak, anger very present on his face. "L-Look, you…! I-I don't know what type of game you're implying, but holding all of us down here against our will is a clear violation of the Human Rights Act! The commander and the forces will soon be here, and it will be better for you if you just turn yourself over quietly a-and cease whatever ridiculous game you have planned at once!"

Anthony stared at his friend sympathetically. "Keshi, I don't think anyone's coming for us."

Takeshi shook his head. "N-No! Someone has to be!"

Arachne nodded. "Exactly! There's no way we'd just be left in a maze to die! There's no way!"

"_**Sorry to break it to you, but there is a way**_," the Beast retorted. "_**And you're all currently in it! Ahahaha!**_" Arachne whimpered. "_**Hey, it's not like you'll necessarily die! You just might lose a limb, go insane, have your reputation potentially ruined, or go into anaphylactic shock!**_"

Alice stared down at Hideki and Jamie, her heart breaking. "Why would you bring children into this?"

"_**We had to outdo Kuma Kuma Land and Hora Island in some way**_," the Beast explained. Iyasa's ears perked up, something that did not go unnoticed by Minemi. "_**If you want to get to the fourth floor, then you'd better get moving! Remember, three days or it's lights out for all of you! Best of luck to you all!**_" With that, the phone turned off. The twenty-two Ultimates, both former and current, stood there, uncertain of what to do.

The only thing we knew for certain was that this game had only just begun.

If only we knew just how much we would lose.

**22 Survivors Remain**

**1 Limb Lost**

* * *

**And thus, our game officially begins. What could the maze hold for our Ultimates, especially since one of them had to lose a limb already? Only time will tell. Once again, I would like to thank the amazing betas for making this chapter as amazing as it could be! You make my wordiness less awkward! And thank you all for such the nice comments on Chapter 1! I hope they remain that kind as this story continues!**


	4. Chapter 3: Fucking Hallway Twelve

**Chapter 3: Fucking Hallway Twelve**

**9:22 A.M. Day 1**

**Floor 5**

**Hallway 2**

"Someone, help!" Arachne screeched. Her hands cupped around her mouth. "Please! I don't want to die down here!"

"Can someone make her stop?" Shinya grumbled. "My head's beginning to hurt."

Garnet looked at the girl and sighed. "I don't think any of us can blame her for trying, mate."

"She's b-been screaming for a good m-minute now," Takeshi muttered. He seemed to be in somewhat of a shocked state himself. "Her voice is going to g-go out at this rate."

Gemma whimpered. "I don't want to die either."

"And we won't!" Rafaela argued with a determined look on her face. "Listen, fuck-noodles!" Alice and Yoshi were quick to cover the children's ears.

"Language, Red!" Yoshi interrupted.

Rafaela smirked back at the Actress. "English, tits-cunt!" Yoshi glared at the Cyberpunk. "Anyways, we aren't going to die down here!"

Arachne spun around to face the Cyberpunk, the fear evident in her face. "How can you say that?! You heard that Beast person! We only have three days to escape, and five floors to get through!"

"Exactly!" Rafaela cheered. "And we have the map for this floor! Who's to say the other floors don't have maps either?! If we just power through these floors, we'll be out of here in no time! These cock-shitters don't know what they're dealing with!" She then chuckled. "And with me leading us, I know we'll make it out of here!"

Everyone stared at the Cyberpunk with varying reactions. Some were confused, a couple were excited, and others felt varying degrees of anger or offense.

Minemi shook her head, sighing. "You were doing so well, Red."

"Uh, excuse me?!" Tenshi shouted, storming over to the punk. "Who said you would be the leader?" She placed a hand on her chest, then flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Obviously, the most fabulous and most qualified of us should be the leader!"

Rafaela blinked, before staring at Tenshi. "How the fuck is a pink-piggy bitch like you more qualified?"

Tenshi's expression quickly flushed red with anger. "Excuse you?! Who the hell are you calling a bitch?!"

"You, bitch-tits," Rafaela retorted. She smirked. "Or should I say no-tits?"

"For your information, having a flat chest is actually very aerodynamic!" She gave Rafaela a light shove.

Rafaela growled. "I don't know what that word means, but it doesn't change the fact that a prissy-princess cunt like you isn't fit to hold a sword, much less be a leader!" In the blink of an eye, Tenshi had pulled a black marker out of the top of her dress and quickly scribbled cat whiskers onto Rafaela's face.

"Miss Red has kitty whiskers!" Jamie snickered a bit after saying that. Rafaela's glare deepened while Tenshi smirked proudly.

"That is the Kuroneko, my only move that doesn't involve a sword." Tenshi tucked the marker back into her dress. "But if you want me to prove how amazing I am with one, then I gladly will! I always love showing off my moves to my loving fans!"

"You're dead meat," Rafaela hissed, before lunging at the Iaidoka. With a chuckle, Tenshi settled her hand on the hilt of her sword. However, the fight was quickly stopped by Minemi when she suddenly appeared between the two girls. Rafaela stopped dead in her tracks, and Tenshi stared back with sharpened eyes.

Minemi turned her gaze to Rafaela and gave a small smile. "Red, you brought that on yourself by provoking an Iaidoka. She has that talent for a reason." Her eyes then shifted to Tenshi. "And you should've known better than to provoke a fool by drawing on her face."

"She did it first," Tenshi whined.

"Well, Dear, you brought it upon yourself," Minemi retorted. "You are, after all, wearing a gaudy idol uniform." Tenshi's eyes narrowed as she reached for her sword again.

"Alright! That's enough!" Alice interrupted. After gently placing Hideki on the ground, she stormed over to the three girls. "All three of you are in the wrong! Tenshi, you provoked Red! Red, you provoked Tenshi! Minemi… you've just been provoking everyone; the attack on Tenshi's clothing was unwarranted, and you know it was." She drew in a deep breath before sighing. "We aren't going to get anywhere by being catty and rude to one another." The Caregiver looked back and forth at Rafaela and Tenshi. "And bickering over who'll lead us won't do much, either."

"We didn't even agree to have a leader," Kitty reminded. "Red was the first one who brought up the idea."

Alice nodded, turning her attention back to the three. "Now, I'm not going to force you three to apologize to each other. That would just worsen tensions, since I have no doubt you'd try to get in some snide comments." She paused her scolding when she felt someone lightly tug on her hand. She looked down to see Hideki staring up at her with wide eyes. "Yes, Hideki?" The toddler pointed down the hallway. "Is there something wrong with the hallway?" He nodded.

"Aw, Hideki, there's nothing down there," Yoshi reassured. "And if there is, then the Ultimate Magical Girl will protect you!" Yoshi winked at Alice, earning a chuckle from the Caregiver.

Jamie looked ahead wearily. "B-But what if there's something scary down there?"

"According to the map, there's nothing that we should worry about," Christel argued. She, Gilbert, and Lucille were all looking over the map.

"Although, if we do go that direction, then we might gain access to a hallway that puts us closer to a staircase to the fourth floor," Gilbert claimed.

Alice bit her lip, looking down at Hideki. He was now hiding his face in her skirt. "Is there maybe another way to get there?"

"There is not, ma cherie," Lucille responded. "Hideki will be fine. He's probably just scared of the dark." Alice glanced back at the hallway that had Hideki so frightened. It was rather dark. Alice sighed before kneeling down and lifting Hideki into her arms.

"It'll be okay, Sweetie," Alice cooed. "I'll be here to protect you and Jamie."

The older child perked up at the mention of his name. "You'll protect me?" Jamie almost looked shocked.

Alice smiled reassuringly at the young boy. "Of course, I will. As a caregiver, I want to protect everyone I take care of. And since you and Hideki are children, you need someone to watch out for you two." When she noticed the skeptical look she was getting from the boy, she held out a pinky. "Do you want me to promise? I'm legally not allowed to break a pinky promise."

Jamie stared at her for a moment before nodding. He locked his pinky with Alice's. "If it's a promise, then I'll protect you too, Miss Alice."

Alice chuckled, unlinking their pinkies to ruffle Jamie's hair. "I'm sure I'll be safe and sound with you looking out for me," she teased.

"The child protecting the caregiver," Fera muttered. He tapped his chin. "That'd be interesting."

Shinya sighed. "Now that we've dealt with all of that, could we maybe discuss our game plan for this floor?"

"Like Gilbert said, if we go down that hallway, then we could face a room that could get us closer to a staircase leading to the fourth floor," Christel restated. "If we skip the challenge room, then we'll have a longer walk to get to that staircase. Regardless, we have to go down that hallway."

"So, for now, that is the game plan," Lucille concluded.

"How will we know when we've gotten to this room?" Yui inquired.

Gilbert stared down at the map. "There should be a mark on the door similar to the one on the map, assuming that it's accurate."

Percy snickered. "This is going to be a real blast!"

Garnet stared at the Peruvian boy. "Mate, was that supposed to be a pun?"

Percy shrugged. "If you want it to be."

Shinya nodded and began to collect his things. "Then we should get going. The sooner we make it out of this floor, the less spider-girl freaks out about our deadline." Arachne glared at him, but she did not say a word.

As everyone began to gather their packs, Gemma paused. Her eyes wandered over to the Rescuer, who was still out cold on the ground. "What are we going to do about Henry?"

Everyone paused. Their eyes turned to the man in question.

Yui sighed. "We can't leave him here."

Iyasa gave a confused look at the petite girl. "Why not?"

"Oh, I know!" Percy shouted, while raising his hand. "It's because that Beast guy said anyone who's alive has to make it to the center!"

Yui nodded. "If we leave Henry here, and arrived at the center while he's still alive, then we'd all be in deep trouble."

Minemi stared at the unconscious man before smiling. "It would be beneficial for us to keep him alive, even if he is missing a foot." She began to look around at her fellow captees. "So, who of us are going to carry our dear Rescuer and his things?"

Gilbert stepped over to Henry before pulling the man off the ground and slinging him over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. "I can deal with him for a while."

"What about when he wakes up?" Alice questioned. "He's missing a foot."

"We can act as human crutches," Iyasa claimed with a smile, before he and many others began to walk down the hallway.

"Can we get going now?" Tenshi whined. "I want to get through this already."

Lucille gently pulled the Iaidoka into a side hug. "Patience, ma belle."

"I've got to agree with Tenshi," Kitty interjected. "I'm ready to get out of this stupid maze!" The three girls soon joined the others who were walking off.

Alice glanced back down the hallway. Hideki was hiding his face in the crook of her shoulder, refusing to look down there. "Why are you so scared?" she asked, her voice a whisper. Hideki responded by shaking his head and digging it further into her shoulder. Alice sighed. "Does anyone have a flashlight or a lantern in their pack?"

"I do," Takeshi stated. He walked over to Alice and passed her the flashlight. "I c-can take Hideki's b-bags for you, A-Alice."

Gemma joined the Caregiver's side. "And if you need someone else to carry him, I can do that for you."

Alice smiled at the Medic and the Archer, then passed the second pack in her grasp over to Takeshi. "That's very kind of you both to offer. Thank you." With one last glance down the hallway, Alice turned on the flashlight and followed the group down the dark hallway, Gemma and Takeshi right behind her.

* * *

**10:29 A.M. Day 1**

**Floor 5**

**Hallway 12**

Kitty stared down at the phone. "We've been walking for about an hour now."

"And, assuming we're going the right direction, we're in Hallway Twelve now," Gilbert announced. The strain of carrying Henry was visibly taking a toll on the knight.

Tenshi groaned. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. This map makes no damn sense!"

"Well, considering we're in a maze, that would explain why there's not much sense to the layout," Minemi responded.

"I didn't ask you, gothic bitch!" Tenshi snapped.

"Tenshi!" Yoshi warned. "We have two kids with us!"

Shinya sighed. "This is so annoying."

"Their arguing?" Fera raised a brow.

"No, the lack of decorations in the maze," Shinya remarked. Fera then looked around the dark walls of the maze. Shinya sighed again. "I was… I was being sarcastic, Fera."

"Ah, sorry." The two walked alongside each other, tuning out the bickering from the front of the pack. "So… you're a toxicologist?"

"I'd normally make a sarcastic remark, but something tells me you wouldn't get it," Shinya grumbled.

"Sorry again," Fera muttered.

Shinya sighed. "No, no, it's fine."

Fera cocked an eyebrow. "You get frustrated a lot." Shinya glanced over at him with a quizzical look. "It's just that… You seem to sigh whenever you get frustrated, and you sigh a lot."

"Astute observation," Shinya commented.

"Was that sarcasm?" When Shinya responded with a shrug, the Ghostwriter then asked, "So, it sort of was?"

The Toxicologist ran a hand through his hair. "Sure, let's go with that."

"Well, why are you so frustrated?" Fera asked, continuing with his earlier thought.

"Why do you say so many weird, cryptic things?" Shinya retorted, the frustration very evident in his voice. He paused to check Fera for any signs of distress, but the boy just seemed confused.

The Ghostwriter turned his head to look at Shinya. "What have I said that's weird?"

Shinya stopped and pulled Fera off to the side, so that those behind them could keep walking. "You're kidding, right?" Fera shook his head, still very confused. "You've said shit about dusty tombs and being far from home and so much more! Every word out of your mouth since I saw you has been weird!"

Fera stared up at the Toxicologist with wide eyes. "Why should I think of it as weird?" Shinya simply stared at smaller boy with a dumbstruck expression. "One man's poison is another's honey. Unless it's an actual poison. Then it'll just kill you." The Ghostwriter pulled himself away and walked off to rejoin the group. Shinya followed him, still looking dumbstruck. "You never answered my question, though."

"About me being frustrated?" Shinya clarified. Fera nodded. "If I had an answer for you, then I'd give it. I just find it annoying when people act dumb or ask me stupid questions."

"But what if those questions and actions are normal to them?" Fera inquired. "Then you're getting frustrated at someone just being themselves."

"That is… That's a fair way to summarize it," Shinya conceded. "I'm not trying to be an ass."

Fera shook his head. "I never said you were one." However, it appeared that Shinya had already tuned out of their conversation. He was already walking ahead of the smaller boy. The Ghostwriter sighed, shoulders slumping. "I've made another handsome boy angry. Great…"

If Shinya felt his cheeks flare up at the comment, then he kept that to himself.

Further back in the group, Gemma cautiously stepped towards Garnet. "Excuse me," the Archer said, tapping him on the shoulder.

The young man glanced back at the girl, smiling. "Gemma, right?" She nodded. "What can I help you with, mate?"

"Oh, I… I just want to talk," she claimed. Garnet could see the girl was holding back, but he decided to leave it be for now.

"What do you want to talk about?" Another smile broke across his face. "Kiwis?"

Gemma gave the Acrobat a confused look. "You want to talk about fruit?"

Garnet shook his head. "Kiwis, as in the birds. Those things are adorable little buggers." Gemma giggled, which made his smile grow. "See! You agree!" He then gave a brief sigh. "Honestly, I want to see a kiwi again. I wonder if I can make a final request if I die down here? If I can, then it would be to see a kiwi."

"Don't say stuff like that!" Gemma protested, shocking Garnet. The girl visibly wilted. "I don't want anyone to die."

"I was just making a joke, mate," Garnet argued.

"Well, it wasn't funny." Gemma crossed her arms over her chest. The two walked in silence for a few moments before the Archer let out a sigh. "I'm sorry."

"I am too," Garnet responded. He glanced over at the Archer, who was glancing between him and the ground. "Something else bothering ya, Gemma?"

"Well… This is going to sound so weird, but you look like a friend I had when I was a little girl," she admitted. "Which is so weird because she was a girl."

Garnet chuckled. "Well, considering how much traveling I've done, maybe I've met her. Tell me 'bout this friend of yours."

Gemma smiled. "She was just as energetic as me, and she was so, so good at gymnastics… Although, her family was never too fond of that." Her gaze wandered off to the ceiling as they walked. "They were never too fond of her. They were nice enough whenever my family would visit, but she'd always talk about how she wanted to play outside."

Garnet nodded. "I can safely say that I've met many girls like that. Maybe you could give me a bit more to work with… like a name?"

"Oh! Yes! That would probably be very helpful!" Gemma lightly hit the side of her head with a giggle. "Her name was Garland Everglade. Have you ever met a girl with that name?"

Garnet bit his lip before shaking his head. "Sorry, Gemma, but I can't say I have." When she wilted once again, he quickly said, "Hey, I'm sure she's out there somewhere. Maybe seeing her again could be your final wish."

Gemma cracked a smile. "I… I guess it could."

* * *

**11:56 A.M. Day 1**

**Floor 5**

**Hallway 12**

"Hey, three-way fuck-cunts!" Rafaela shouted as she looked back at the map-holders. Yoshi let out a defeated sigh, having already given up at reprimanding the older girl for her language. "How much longer are we going to be walking to get to this room?! It's been two and half hours since we started, and we're still in fucking Hallway Twelve!"

Christel sighed, mumbling, "I'll take that over tiny." She perked up and glanced over at the map, which was in Lucille's grip. "It's hard to tell, but I'd guess that we're about fifteen or so minutes away from it." A chorus of groans filled the air.

"Hey, it could be worse," Gemma argued. "We could be five hours away from it!"

"Yeah, but we've been walking for two and a half hours!" Iyasa whined.

"How about we take a break?" Alice suggested, interjecting before more complaints and potentially more arguments could break out. "It's almost noon anyways. We can break for lunch. I think some of the packs have food in them." With the group silently agreeing, everyone moved to sit by the walls. Gilbert set Henry against a wall. Alice gently placed Hideki down on the ground before sitting by Jamie and Gemma.

Percy let out a sigh of relief as he slumped against the wall. "Thank God! I felt like my feet were about to fall right off my legs!"

"I'm shocked you didn't say blast right off your legs," Shinya remarked.

"I'm too tired to come up with firework puns," Percy whined. He zipped open his pack before groaning. "No food in my bag!"

"I have a whole bunch of food in mine," Kitty reported.

"Same here," Lucille stated.

"M-Make sure to r-ration it," Takeshi interjected. "If we're g-going to be traveling for th-three days, then we need to s-save the food as much as p-possible."

Kitty and Lucille looked at each other before nodding. "We can start with my pack," Lucille said. "After that, our ravishing lion tamer can pass out the food from hers." Kitty giggled at the compliment while Tenshi glared. Lucille then reached into her bag and began to pass around sandwiches.

"I-I can take s-some nuts or ch-chips if you have any," Takeshi offered.

While waiting for a sandwich to get to him, Jamie dug around his pack. He stopped once he saw a familiar blue packaging. He pulled out the package and gasped, a bright smile making its way across his face. "I have cookies in my bag!" Hideki's eyes brightened as he squirmed off Alice's lap and shakily rushed over to the Adapter, dragging his teddy bear along with him. Alice quickly grabbed the toddler without a second thought. She then removed the cookies from Jamie's grasp and shoved them into her pack. Jamie pouted at the Caregiver. "Miss Alice, those were mine."

"When snack time comes around, you can have them back," Alice reassured. "I don't want you or Hideki having these when you should be eating lunch."

"Oh, come on; let the kids live a little," Arachne argued while munching on a sandwich Kitty had passed her.

Alice sighed. "After they eat their lunch, I'll let them have an Oreo or two."

"Maybe three cookies?" Jamie gave Alice big, pleading eyes.

"Oh, could I have some too?" Gemma requested.

Alice playfully rolled her eyes. A teasing smile made its way across her face. "Eat your lunch, and we'll see." Four sandwiches were passed to the small group; Jamie and Gemma tore into theirs immediately. Alice chuckled while unwrapping one and passing it to Hideki. The toddler stared at the sandwich for a moment before pressing it against the shield of his pacifier. He pouted and tried again. With a giggle, Alice removed the pacifier from the toddler's lips. "You want to give it another shot?" Hideki stared at the sandwich, then up at Alice. After that, he held the sandwich out for her and pointed at his mouth.

"AH! He's just way too cute!" Tenshi squealed, rushing over to the toddler and plucking him right off of Alice's lap. The boy lost his grip on the sandwich, but Alice was quick to catch it. "Hideki, Auntie Tenshi is going to spoil you rotten once we're out of this dirty maze!"

Alice cocked an eyebrow. "Auntie Tenshi?"

"Don't worry, Alice; Tenshi-sama won't steal your baby from you," she reassured, spinning around with the toddler in her grasp. "I just want to cuddle Hideki before returning him to his mama."

"My baby?" Alice questioned. "Mama? When did I adopt Hideki as my son?" Jamie listened in silence.

"You have been taking care of him since we found him," Gemma argued, her mouth full of food.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, dear," Minemi interjected. "It's uncouth."

Gemma swallowed her bite before flashing a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

"You might want to put the kid down before he throws up," Fera warned. Tenshi pulled a face before stopping her spinning. However, this sudden stop caused Hideki to lose hold on his teddy bear and accidentally fling it at Iyasa's head.

"First, ow! Second, cute!" Iyasa picked up the teddy bear and began to examine it. The toddler stared at his now empty hand. Tears filled his eyes, and his face scrunched up.

"Snowball," he whimpered, eyes darting around for the bear in question. Everyone stared at the boy, who had not said a word with wide eyes. His voice was barely above a whisper, but he still spoke. Hideki whimpered as tears streamed down his face; shortly after that, Hideki began to wail loudly.

Alice darted away from the wall, snatched the teddy bear from Iyasa's grip, and rushed over to Hideki, who was still in Tenshi's arms. "Don't cry, Sweetie. Snowball is right here." Alice held the teddy bear up for the toddler to see. "See, he's okay." Hideki stared at the teddy bear, his wails dying down immediately, and made grabby hands for the bear.

"Snowball, please," he begged.

Alice passed the toy to Hideki before taking the boy from Tenshi. "There we go," she cooed. "No more tears, okay?" Alice stepped back over to the wall where she had been before and sat back down. "Now, how about we eat some lunch?" With a nod, Hideki opened his mouth again.

"I can feed him for you," Gemma offered. "I finished my lunch already, so I can take over." Alice flashed the Archer a thankful smile before transferring Hideki and his lunch over to Gemma's lap. She then grabbed her own lunch and began to eat.

This moment of peace among the group did not last for long, though. Only a few minutes after beginning, and finishing, their lunch, the group heard a small rumble. "What was that?" Anthony questioned. Everyone remained silent as they heard another rumble, this one louder than the first.

"Everyone get your shit together—shut your stupid-shitting mouth, Yoshi, I don't care—and prepare to run," Rafaela ordered. She snapped her head over to Tenshi. "Princess-bitch, I know we don't get along, but you might have to prove yourself." Tenshi glared at the Cyberpunk, but nodded nonetheless. Everyone quickly packed everything up and threw their packs on. Henry let out a small groan as he was slung back over Gilbert's shoulder.

The Rescuer perked up, pushing himself against Gilbert. "What the hell? Who are you, and why are you carrying me?! Put me down!"

"In case you've forgotten, dummkopf, you had to cut your foot off!" Christel hissed. "And we don't have time for you to hobble to our next location, so Gilbert's carrying you!" The ground was practically moving as the rumbling grew louder.

A loud roar filled the air, striking fear into the hearts of the group. Rafaela growled back. She was ready to threaten the unknown force, but Christel grabbed her arm. "Don't do anything stupid! He doesn't know where we are yet, and we need to take advantage of that!"

"Fuck that!" Rafaela cursed. "We should fight this cock-choking dick-muncher!"

"You won't win that fight," Iyasa retorted, his voice dead serious. "We need to run while we have the chance." Rafaela glowered at the two but nodded. Everyone turned and began to run. The rumblings and the shaking did not stop. If anything, they seemed to grow in volume.

"What's chasing after us?!" Arachne exclaimed.

"How could we possibly know that?!" Shinya responded. "Trying to figure that out would require stopping and looking it over! And something tells me that it isn't wanting to have a nice chat!" The group began running past several doors, giving Christel a sense of relief.

"Keep going!" Lucille urged. "We're almost at the room!"

"Weaklings! Prepare to face the Supreme Strongman!" A deep voice bellowed. Iyasa and Christel shared a look, fear evident on their faces. They craned their necks back to see a creature that was almost eight feet tall running after them. Horns curled out of his head, and his legs and feet were like those of a bull. However, one look at the gray trench coat and the belt with the gold buckle made them know who was chasing them.

Christel snapped her attention back to Lucille. "Lucille, are we almost there?!"

"I'm checking the walls for the door with a symbol, like the one on the map!" Lucille argued. Christel looked back over at the man chasing them. He was getting closer. "Found it!" The Racer rushed to a black door with a sideways oval and line down the center painted on it. After she pulled the door open, everyone piled into the room. Right before the Strongman could grab Lucille, she pulled the door shut, causing it to lock on its own.

"Let me in!" The man demanded, pounding on the door. Lucille stumbled back from the door and right into Tenshi's arms. "Let me in, you stupid whore!"

"We couldn't even if we wanted to, ass-munch!" Rafaela taunted. "Go back to the pastor and fuck a sheep!"

The man on the other side growled. "This isn't over! I won't let weak cowards like you lot keep me from returning to normal!" Everyone remained silent as they waited for the trembling to go away.

Once the ground was completely still, the group collectively released a breath they didn't even know they were holding. The silence was broken by the phone in Kitty's hand ringing once again. Christel snatched it from the lion tamer's hand and accepted the call. "What the fuck was that?!"

"_**It seems you've encountered Cadoc,**_" the Beast observed.

Iyasa let out a mirthless laugh. "You could say that. What is he doing here? And why does he look like a minotaur?"

"You two know that thing?" Minemi questioned.

"He was in his last year at Hope's Peak when we started going," Iyasa explained. "He was the most violent, arrogant student that the school ever had."

"Every girl who went to Hope's Peak knew to walk in a group of at least three whenever Cadoc actually showed up to class," Christel added, shivering at the memory. She then glared back at the phone. "Which is why I want to know why he's here!"

The Beast laughed. "_**Afraid Cadoc's going to assault you, Christel? Rest assured, he won't be harming you in anyway. Well… except for one way.**_"

"I'm probably going to regret asking this, but what precisely?" Shinya asked.

"_**Similar to you all, Cadoc was brought here for a game. However, his game is a bit different from yours. See, he has a series of challenges, but they all revolve around killing you.**_"

"What?!" Henry exclaimed. "We're trying to escape this maze, and that giant just has to fucking kill all of us?!"

"_**Don't be so upset,**_" the Beast interrupted. "_**He only has three days to kill you all too. Besides, you're allowed to try and kill him. Although, it'll certainly be more of a challenge.**_"

"Is Cadoc the only reason you called us?" Kitty questioned. "Or do you just want to hear our lovely voices?"

"_**Don't flatter yourselves,**_" the Beast hissed. "_**You all have just entered your first challenge room.**_" The lights in the room turned on to reveal what looked like a kitchen straight out of the fifties, with two doors on the back wall. What caught everyone's attention was the kitchen table, which seemed to have something hidden under a red tablecloth. "_**If you'll all make your way over to the table, you'll see what your first test is.**_" The group slowly creeped their way over to the table. Minemi eyed it warily before grabbing the tablecloth and pulling it off.

Sitting on the table were several plates piled with what looked like cooked entrails and fried fingers. Dead center was the severed head of a young man. Everyone stumbled away from the table. Their reactions were different, but all of them conveyed the same shock. Tenshi, Arachne, and Kitty let out ear-piercing screams. Alice and Yoshi shielded the children's eyes while looking away themselves. Fera's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he fell to the ground. Takeshi bent over and vomited up his lunch, while Anthony rushed over to his friend's side with a bottle of water.

"What the fuck?!" Rafaela exclaimed.

"_**Ahahaha! I take it you all have seen the meal I've left for you!**_" The Beast taunted.

Shinya swallowed back the bile building up in his throat. "What are you wanting us to do?"

"_**In a moment, you all will receive a note that should lead you to figuring out which plate to clear,**_" the Beast explained. "_**Each plate has a key, but only two will open those doors. Depending on the door you open, you will either be taken straight to the stairwell for the fourth floor, or you will have to complete another task that might not end so well.**_" Lucille and Rafaela stared at the table.

"What's stopping us from dumping the food and testing each key on the door?" Lucille inquired.

The Beast chuckled. "_**By all means, feel free to try that. Just know that everyone has to take at least one bite from any plate you intend to use the key from. If anyone tries to leave without doing so, then you might experience something like this.**_"

Jamie then let out a loud scream as he collapsed to the ground, clutching the back of his neck.

"Oh my God! Jamie!" Alice screeched, rushing over to the child. She set Hideki down on the ground and kept her grip on Jamie. The boy had what appeared to be a seizure, screaming in pain.

"Hey! Lucille and I were the dumbasses who asked the question!" Rafaela shouted. "If you're gonna make a point, don't hurt the kid like a fucking coward!"

"How are you even doing this?" Minemi questioned, her smile dropping.

"_**If you all remember when you woke up, you might have felt a slight pain in the back of your neck. Well… That was a small chip I planted that's connected to your spinal cords. It wasn't invasive at all. Alice even checked Gemma over when they woke up, and she couldn't find the scar.**_" The Beast let out a loud laugh that echoed through the room as Jamie continued twitching and screaming.

Alice stared up at the ceiling, tears in her eyes. "Please, stop this! You're killing him!"

"He's just a kid, you fucking monster!" Henry growled.

The Beast let out a sigh. "_**Fine, I'll let him be.**_" Jamie's screams stopped in an instant.

"Oh, thank God," Alice gasped. She wrapped the boy in a tight hug.

Jamie let out a small groan, blinking rapidly as he came back to his senses. "Miss Alice, what happened just now? My neck hurts a lot." Alice didn't respond. She simply held him tightly.

"_**For a child, though, he's not nearly as innocent as you'd think.**_"

"Coming from a mega monster like you, that's rich," Tenshi quipped.

"_**Ah yes, because I care about the opinions of some petty swordsman with issues. You all know what you have to do. You get seven minutes in this room. Don't waste them.**_" The call ended, and a note flittered down from the ceiling. The challenge had officially begun.

* * *

**22 Survivors Remain**

**1 Limb Lost**

* * *

**AN: So this chapter has no doubt put me on quite a few people's Punt to the Sun lists. Before you all come after me for putting one of the child characters in a near death situation so early on, let me give a few thanks. First off, big thanks to the amazing betas for making this chapter amazing! Second, an extra big thanks to Super for letting me bring Cadoc into the story as an extra force of fear for the maze inhabitants. As some of you can still see in the roster chapter, Cadoc was initially submitted to be an inhabitant, but after talking to Super, I decided to make him have his own goal for the maze. Cadoc was not submitted as a minotaur/human hybrid, but...we'll get into that later. ^_^ Thank you all so much for reading this chapter! This game is only just beginning.**


	5. Chapter 4: Two Lies and a Truth

**Chapter 4: Two Lies and A Truth**

**12:07 P.M. Day 1**

**Room Phi**

**Floor 5**

Everyone in the group stared at the note, unsure of what to do. Alice still had a tight hold on Jamie, who slowly came back to his senses while Takeshi checked him over for any lasting damage. Henry had been set down on the ground and was making sure Fera was alright. The Ghostwriter had woken up as quickly as he had passed out, but he was still very woozy at the sight of the organs. Percy and Iyasa were digging around the cupboards and drawers in the room for extra supplies. "So… who wants to read it?" Kitty inquired, nervousness dripping from her voice.

"That sounds like an offer," Shinya responded. Kitty remained unmoving from her spot. It was clear no one wanted to approach the table, and by extension, the body parts on the plates.

Finally, Rafaela stepped towards the table and swiped the note. Then she quickly retreated to Minemi's side, glanced down at the note, and began to read. "On day one, Izzy got real sick. Her stomach ached, and her throat would itch. Her mom gave her medicine, and she got worse quick. On day two, Izzy felt worse. Her stomach hurt so much she was sure it would burst. Her mom gave her soup, but that just made things worse. On day number three, Izzy had died. She was buried to rest, but it was her mother who lied. What body part should you eat?" Rafaela stared at the paper dumbfoundedly. "What the hell is this worm-shit?!

"Well, that note tells us a fat load of nothing," Christel grumbled.

"Not necessarily," Gilbert argued. "It mentioned a certain body part quite a bit. Any guesses?"

Tenshi rolled her eyes. "The stomach, duh! We're not idiots."

The Knight nodded. "That would be correct. So that would mean we all need to take a bite from the stomach."

Yoshi's face turned green upon staring at the plate. She then looked over at the two scavenging the room. "Have you guys found a knife and fork? I normally don't care about getting my hands dirty, but… I don't want to touch that."

Iyasa chuckled. "Kekeke! Lucky for you, we found a whole drawer." With a slight tug, the drawer flew out of its spot.

Percy grabbed hold of it and scurried over to the table. "They're a bit rusty, but it's better than nothing." Hesitantly, everyone took a knife and fork and cut out the smallest section they possibly could.

"I… Could someone else feed Hideki the stomach?" Alice stared at her portion with disgust. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did it."

Henry let out a small sigh before hopping over to the table to fulfill Alice's request. He lifted Hideki off the ground and placed him down on the table, as far away from the plates as possible.

Takeshi whimpered before shoving the fork into his mouth and swallowing the stomach without another word. "Oh G-God, that was gross."

Once everyone had eaten their portion of stomach, each with varying levels of disgust, Lucille shoved the remains of the organ off the plate and grabbed the key that had been lying underneath it. She rushed over to the first door and shoved the key into the lock, but it did not budge. She then tried the second door; the key couldn't even fit into its lock, either. "What the hell?!"

"Are you telling me we ate stomach for nothing?!" Arachne exclaimed.

"What else are we going to have to eat?" Anthony muttered. "Stomach was the only thing mentioned."

Alice bit her lip, seeming to be in deep thought. Minemi turned her attention to the Caregiver; a smile graced her face. "It seems our dear Caregiver has an idea." Everyone turned their attention to the orange-haired girl.

Alice's eyes briefly widened at the attention, but she managed to keep her composure. "It's just an idea, and I honestly hope I'm wrong."

Kitty glanced at the phone before gulping. "Well, considering we have three minutes left in this room, I think any idea is better than none."

Alice sighed. "Well, first off, the note mentioned a throat, which is a small reason for my guess. Second, it also mentioned the mom quite a bit, and how her 'attempts' to make her daughter better just lead to her getting sicker."

Minemi giggled. "It appears we both came to the same conclusion, Alice." She then turned her focus back to the group. "The note seems to be describing a mother with Munchausen syndrome by proxy."

"In English, Mimi," Rafaela requested.

"It's a mental disorder where a person will make someone else sick or hurt in an attempt to get attention," Shinya explained. "Some have even gone so far as to kill their loved ones."

"That's awful!" Gemma cried.

Christel's eyes narrowed at the thought. "That's disgusting."

"It seems to be what the note is describing," Henry argued.

Takeshi's eyes widened. "B-But if the note's describing a mental disorder, then that means…" The medic's gaze traveled over to the table, landing right on the severed head.

"Oh, hell no!" Tenshi protested, fury very present on her face. "It's bad enough I ate a stomach! I am not about to eat someone's head!" The Iaidoka paused when she felt a hand squeeze her shoulder. She looked over to see Lucille looking at her with a stern, almost angry expression.

"We have no choice, Tenshi," Lucille argued. "We all had to eat the stomach, and we'll have to eat the head if it means we can escape from this room. You saw what that bastard was willing to do to Jamie." Tenshi wilted under Lucille's gaze, but she gave a small nod.

While this had been going on, Jamie had turned his attention to the table, staring at the head. The eight-year-old stepped away from Alice's side while she explained her theory and over to where Hideki was still sitting. Hideki stared at Jamie, wondering what the older boy was doing. The toddler gently placed Snowball down on the table before patting Jamie's hair.

"Soft," Hideki mumbled. He then reached over to the head but was stopped by Jamie.

"Don't touch that," Jamie hissed. "We might not be allowed to. Plus, it's icky."

Hideki stared at the hair on the head. "Not soft," he said before grabbing hold of Snowball.

Jamie raised an eyebrow at what Hideki meant before focusing on the hair. "It's shiny like Mister Tony's hair… But it's hanging in his face like mine." Jamie hesitantly reached forward and touched the hair on the head. His eyes widened when the hair smeared onto his finger.

Jamie pulled his hand back and stared at his fingers, which was covered in some black substance. The boy brought a finger to his mouth and licked the black stuff. The Adapter could hardly believe the sweet taste that danced on his tongue, but he tasted the all-too familiar food that he had just eaten. "It's frosting…" Jamie stared at the head for a moment before getting an idea. After helping Hideki down from the table, the boy gave the plate the head was on a push.

Everyone watched as the head tumbled off its plate and fell to the ground with a splat. However, instead of remaining intact, the head broke apart, revealing the inside to be a cream-colored substance that looked an awful lot like cake. A key laid on the plate where the head once was. Percy was the first to run to the broken head and grab a bite. "It's a cake! Thank God!"

"The head was a cake?" Shinya looked completely dumbfounded.

Fera hummed. "It would appear the head was a lie in this case."

"Everyone, shut up and eat; we only have a minute!" Kitty snapped. They all rushed to grab a small portion of the cake while Percy used the key to unlock the door on the right side.

"Grab your shit and run!" Rafaela ordered. As quickly as they had piled into the room, the group of twenty-two ran out of it, with Alice making sure to grab hold of Hideki. The door slammed shut behind them all, leading the group into another dark room.

"Do you think we made it to the stairwell?" Garnet questioned.

"Why would the stairwell be shrouded in darkness?" Shinya retorted.

"He's just asking a question," Arachne interjected. "Don't be such a jerk."

"Why does this group bicker so much?" Alice muttered. The lights turned on, revealing a relatively simple set-up. Beakers, test tubes, and chemicals in vials sat all around the room. In the back were three tumbler cups—two of which were blue and the third black—and a note sitting on a small table right by a door.

Minemi stepped over to the back of the room and took the note. "To leave this room, you all must make a choice. One glass holds banana milk, and another holds whiskey laced with centipede venom." Alice's face paled while Rafaela grew visibly angry. "Alice and Rafaela must drink from these cups to unlock the door. However, the cups can be avoided altogether if one of the girls drinks from the third cup. The door won't open up until those cups are empty."

"What the cock-spitting, bull-fucking hell is this?!" Rafaela yelled.

Alice slung her mini pink backpack off of her shoulders and began to furiously dig through it. "No, no, no! They wouldn't!"

"Alice, what's wrong?" Gemma asked.

Alice's shoulders slumped. "My EpiPen is missing."

"Why would you need an EpiPen?" Percy inquired.

Shinya rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "She's probably allergic to the contents of one of the drinks."

Alice nodded as she slid on her backpack. "I'm allergic to bananas. Even banana flavoring could trigger a reaction."

Anthony glanced over at Rafaela. "Are you allergic to centipedes, Red?"

Rafaela nodded, almost growling. "The shit-sucker running this is trying to kill me."

Minemi hummed. "Not necessarily, dear."

Garnet looked at her curiously. "Okay, this might be a dumb question, but how is the mastermind not trying to kill her?"

"Oh, depending on how this goes, both Red and Alice could very well die," Minemi clarified. Rafaela growled, her expression growing dark. Alice stumbled back a bit, but Takeshi and Gemma kept her upright.

Jamie seemed to grow white at Minemi's words. "Miss Alice and Miss Red can't die!" Everyone turned their attention back to the child. The boy froze on the spot.

Minemi cleared her throat, pulling the attention away from Jamie. "Anyway, the note mentions that either Alice or Red could drink from that third cup."

"In a room like this, though, that cup could be something poisonous," Iyasa argued. "It would be safer for Alice and Red to figure out which of the two cups holds what."

Alice shook her head. "The only way we could do that is by removing the lids, and something tells me that the Beast either glued them on or will use those neck chips to ensure we don't remove them." She sighed. "But at least we know what's in those cups."

"If I could be allowed to continue my idea without any interruptions, maybe you all could see my point," Minemi hissed. Her eye twitched from frustration despite the smile on her face. When everyone remained silent, the Parapsychologist giggled. "Thank you. Now, as I was trying to explain, let's think back to the last room we were in. The key that led us to this room was under a cake disguised as a severed head. Now, let's say the mastermind of this game left the other working key under a plate with a similar nature to the severed head."

Yui cocked an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting that one of those plates of organs was actually a cake?"

Minemi shrugged. "Not specifically, but let's go with that for now." Minemi grabbed the black tumbler and held it up in the air. "Let's say the idea of that room, and this room as well, is that we should be willing to try the most risky and gross-looking things to get the best outcome. In that last room, trying the head-cake got us a key that worked. In this room, Alice or Red should be willing to try a mysterious drink over something that will definitely kill them. Assuming this room is running similar to the last one, this cup should hold something completely safe to drink."

"What if it doesn't?" Rafaela questioned.

"Well then, you'd better hope it's something Shinya can cure," Minemi responded with a mischievous smile. Rafaela and Alice shared an uncertain look with each other.

"I can do it if you want," Alice offered. She let out a weak chuckle. "Whatever's in there can't be worse than banana milk or centipede venom in your case."

Rafaela casted her eyes over to Hideki, who was being held by Gemma, and Jamie. Her gaze softened on the two children. Gemma had made sure to shield Hideki from everything going on, but Jamie was staring at the two girls with wide eyes filled with fear. The punk turned her focus back to Alice and her expression hardened. "You've got those two depending on you. They may have pointy-ears if you kick the shitter, but it's clear they like you too." Before Alice could say a word, Rafaela stomped over to Minemi, snatched the black tumbler, and began to chug.

"Oh my gosh! What are you doing?!" Tenshi screeched. Rafaela ignored her in favor of downing the drink. The Cyberpunk inwardly smirked as the familiar taste of beer landed on her tongue. Once the flow of alcohol had stopped, Rafaela pulled the cup away from her lips and let out a content sigh.

"Jesus, I needed that drink!" Everyone stared at her incredulously.

"Did you just drink an entire tumbler of alcohol?" Arachne questioned. Rafaela nodded, earning her more shocked stares. "How are you not dead?"

Rafaela smirked. "Where I come from, drinking this much is nothing." She looked up at the ceiling. "Hey, pig-fucker! I drank the shitty-ass beer you left! Now, let us out!" The door swung open soon after.

"I guess we can thank your alcoholism, as well as my brilliance, for getting us out of this room then," Minemi remarked, before stepping over the threshold of the door.

"Hell yeah!" Rafaela cheered.

"I don't think that's something that should be praised," Shinya muttered. He approached the door, with Fera close behind him.

Everyone filed out of the room, arriving at a flight of metal steps that wound around a pole. One look up told the group that the stairs went up at least three stories. With a small, collective groan, the twenty-two captives began their trek once again.

* * *

**1:48 P.M. Day 1**

**Stairwell A**

"I think my legs are on fire," Arachne whimpered.

"At least you can feel your legs," Iyasa grunted, while Henry hung over his shoulder.

The Rescuer sighed. "I told you earlier, I'm good to walk now."

"And Christel already told you that this is better for the group," Iyasa retorted.

Henry hummed. "You're a lot different from when we woke up."

Iyasa chuckled. "I just know when to be serious. Of course, once things calm down and I get bored, I'll probably ask for a ball again. Kekeke!"

Arcachne couldn't believe what she heard. "You really asked for a ball?"

"I was bored and it looked like we were going to die," Iyasa claimed. He gave Henry's leg a quick jab. "Besides, this guy decided to provoke me."

Henry kicked Iyasa. "Don't touch me. It's bad enough I have to be over your shoulders like a sack of potatoes."

Arachne stared at the Rescuer with confusion. "Why do you hate being touched?"

"Why are you half spider?" Henry retorted.

Arachne cracked a smile. "I was in London when the water was contaminated, and people started turning into supernatural creatures." She chuckled. "Something tells me that's how Gemma and our furry friend here became the way they are."

"Sorry to interrupt, but I woke up like this," Iyasa argued.

"Either way, I answered your question, Henry," Arachne pointed out. "So, why don't you like being touched?"

"I just don't," Henry responded curtly. "Do I need an explanation?"

Arachne huffed. "Oh come on, that can't be it."

"What if it is?" Henry retorted. "Or, what if I just don't want to get into my life while we're in an Ultimate Despair's game?"

"Kekeke! What, do you not trust us, Henry?" Iyasa teased.

"To be blunt, I don't." Henry removed his mask, letting it hang from his neck. "Every one of these games has a mastermind and a mole. What would make this game any different?"

Arachne paused, thinking it through. "Well… what if you're wrong and you're just being a jerk for no reason?"

Henry shrugged. "I'd rather do that if it means I escape this maze with my life."

* * *

**3:26 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 10**

The group came to a stop as they reached another dead end. "Curses," Gilbert hissed. "This is the fifth dead end we've hit on this floor."

Anthony sighed. "Maybe we should go back to where we last made a turn."

"But that was at least twenty minutes ago," Percy whined.

"Maybe we should take another b-break," Takeshi suggested. "It won't do us any g-good to work ourselves to exhaustion."

"I'm with the kid," Henry interjected. "I've seen good people get killed because they didn't get a proper rest and were too tired to see a gun pointed right at them."

"I would say 'watch what you say' in front of the kids, but I think we're all beyond scarred at this point," Yoshi muttered as she slumped against the wall. She gently kicked off her heels before letting out a sigh of relief. "Dear Jesus, I hope the next challenge we do gives me a pair of sneakers."

Tenshi let out a sigh of her own as she sat down on the ground by Lucille. "Same, girl. My feet are killing me."

"Why did you wear heels?" Fera inquired, his voice soft.

"Because being kidnapped and forced into a crazy despair game weren't exactly my biggest concerns today," Tenshi snapped. "I was going to a convention." She then glanced down at her outfit. "Honestly, while this is super cute, I don't dress like this day-to-day."

"That's reassuring to hear," Minemi teased. Tenshi glared at the silver-haired girl, but she held her tongue.

The moment of peace was interrupted by a phone call. "God damn it!" Kitty cursed. She fished the phone out of her backpack and pressed accept. "What do you want?! We were taking a nice break!" Shinya plucked the phone out of the irritated girl's grasp before she could chuck it at a wall.

"_**If I weren't such a kind person, then I'd punish you for an outburst like that,**_" the Beast stated.

"What do you want?" Shinya said firmly.

The Beast chuckled. "_**All I want to do is play a game. Is that so wrong?**_"

"Considering the current game you're having us play, I'd say yes," Garnet replied.

"_**Well, this game might actually benefit you all… It could also really screw you all over.**_" Everyone glanced at each other nervously. "_**Unless anyone says otherwise, I take it you all want to play.**_" When everyone remained silent, the Beast let out a loud laugh. "_**Amazing! Then allow me to tell you all the rules. This game works like Two Truths and a Lie, except reverse. I will tell you all two lies and a truth about the people here, and you have to guess which one is the truth. Guess right, and I'll manipulate the maze to get you all closer to a stairwell. Guess wrong, and not only will I put you further away from the stairwell, I'll make sure to separate you all.**_"

"Lucille and Kitty are the only ones with food, though," Anthony argued. "We have three children with us."

"And Kitty is the only one who's able to communicate with you," Christel added.

"_**Don't worry; I've thought about all of that,**_" the Beast reassured.

Iyasa shivered. "Something about that doesn't make me feel any better."

"_**If all of you are ready, the game's going to start,**_" the Beast announced. Everyone waited with bated breath, unsure of what the Beast was going to say and hoping it wasn't something applying to them. "_**Alice has four children in her care outside of the maze. Christel was born on a train. Iyasa doesn't have a cousin.**_"

"Those are… surprisingly tame," Minemi commented. She glanced at the three people in question. Alice was wiping at her eyes; Iyasa was staring at the other wall with a blank stare; and Christel was blushing a bright red. "The second statement is the true one."

Shinya stared at the girl with wide eyes. "How can you guess so quickly?"

Minemi giggled. "Christel is too red for it not to be."

"It's so embarrassing," Christel groaned, hiding her head in her hands. "Verdammt, I was hoping no one would learn about that."

"Although, Alice, I must ask why you're trying to hide your tears," Minemi inquired.

Alice froze. "I used to have four kids in my care." She wiped at her eyes quickly. "I… I now have three." The Caregiver turned her gaze to Hideki, who was curled up on her lap. "Could we please change the subject?"

"_**So, is statement two your guess?**_" The Beast interrupted.

"It is," Minemi confirmed. Everyone stood still as the floor and walls began to shift, turning them away from the wall blocking them to a wide-open hallway.

"_**Now, for the second round! Henry's little sister died in the Kuma Kuma Land killing game. Jamie has never stolen before. Tenshi is a girl.**_" Jamie's eyes widened while Tenshi kept her gaze on the ground. Christel and Iyasa shared a look; they already knew the answer.

"The first one," Henry muttered, turning his head away from everyone. "She was on the rollercoaster."

"Shut up," Tenshi hissed. Everyone turned their attention to the girl. She was trembling. "You're lying. You have to be." Tenshi gripped onto her arms. "I'm a girl. Despite what that damn asshole is saying, I'm a girl." Tears pricked her eyes. "Henry has to be lying!"

"I remember what I saw," Henry argued, his voice seeming to shake. "I saw her get ejected from that damn coaster live on television."

"Then... the Beast clearly just broke his own rules, because I'm a girl!" Tenshi retorted. She frantically looked at everyone. "I'm a girl. I swear, I'm a girl!"

"We believe you, Dear, but the Beast clearly is an ass," Minemi reassured.

"_**What is your final answer?**_" The Beast questioned.

"Statement one," Henry responded.

Unfortunately, at the same time, Tenshi shouted, "Statement three!"

There was a moment of silence before the Beast broke into loud laughter. "_**Ahahaha! Tenshi is incorrect!**_" Tenshi fell to her knees, tears pouring from her eyes.

"No," she whimpered. "I'm a girl. I'm a girl." The wall near Tenshi began to shift.

"Ma belle!" Lucille screamed, diving after the girl as the wall turned. In the blink of an eye, the Ultimate F-1 Racer and the Ultimate Iaidoka were no longer there.

"What the fuck just happened?" Rafaela gasped.

"That was needlessly cruel," Minemi muttered, her smile dropping.

Jamie sniffled. "I didn't want to, Miss Alice." Alice turned her attention to the boy, and she felt her heart break. The eight-year-old was staring up at the Caregiver with tear-filled eyes. "I didn't want to steal. I promise."

"Why did you, then?" Gilbert questioned.

"He doesn't have to answer if he doesn't want to," Gemma argued, her expression shockingly serious. She stepped in front of Jamie as Alice wrapped him in a tight hug. "Whatever his reason, he's sorry he did it."

"I was just so hungry," Jamie whimpered. Alice's heart dropped, and she swore she could feel tears swell up in her own eyes.

"_**Next round,**_" the Beast announced. "_**Arachne tried to kill herself during her transformation. Garnet is a boy. Yoshi has two loving parents.**_"

"That first one is oddly specific," Iyasa muttered.

Garnet sighed. "Given the Beast's logic with Tenshi, we can say statement two is a lie, although he's dead wrong!" Gemma perked up and peered at Garnet, who glared up at the ceiling. "Seriously, screw you!"

"So we're between statements one and three," Gilbert summarized. He glanced back and forth between the two in question. "Fair maidens, is there anything you could say that could help?"

"I never tried to kill myself," Arachne claimed. "I swear."

Yoshi remained silent.

Shinya sighed before looking up at the ceiling. "We're guessing statement three is correct."

"_**You are incorrect,**_" the Beast cackled. The section of wall near Arachne quickly spun around, taking Anthony and Gilbert with her too.

"Tony!" Takeshi cried out.

Kitty whimpered. "I don't like this. What if the Beast was lying and they're all dead?"

"Don't say shit like that," Rafaela snapped.

"What I want to know is why Arachne lied," Shinya hissed. He wheeled around to glare at Yoshi. "And why the hell did you not say anything?!"

"Because my family life, or lack of one, has gotten me treated like absolute crap," Yoshi retorted. "Forgive me for not wanting to talk about it!"

"You aren't the only one with family issues, Dear," Minemi retorted. "You should've told the truth. We already lost Tenshi and Lucille, and now we're missing three more people because you didn't speak up."

Yoshi sniffled. "I'm sorry, okay! I screwed up, but I don't know if I can completely trust you guys! You have no idea what it's like to be beaten down for being an orphan and a bastard child!" She wiped at her eyes. "The moment I became an actress, I swore I would never let anyone know."

"Not to interrupt, but spider-cunt also lied to us," Rafaela interjected, scratching at the back of her neck. "If we're gonna get pissy with Yosh, then we should also get pissy with her."

Minemi stared at the punk with wide eyes. "It seems that Red has finally said something intelligent. I didn't even know it was possible."

"That's a bit r-rude," Takeshi muttered.

"You should've heard her earlier when we first met them," Yoshi responded with a light tease in her voice.

"_**Round four!**_" The Beast announced.

"We're still playing?" Gemma questioned. "Can't we do something else?"

The Beast chuckled. Fera gulped. "It seems the Beast is taking his prey's advice."

"_**What an excellent idea, little elf!**_" The Beast shouted. Gemma's face fell, and she stumbled back into Alice's arms. Hideki gently patted the elf's arm. "_**I will ask a few questions, and I expect to hear certain answers to these questions! The same prizes and consequences apply!**_"

"That's even worse," Percy whined.

"_**Who here has a fear of fire?**_" Everyone paused, waiting for someone to come forward.

Minemi smirked. "Tehehe, it appears that the person is too prideful to admit their fear."

"Well it obviously ain't me!" Percy claimed, a bright smile on his face. "I wouldn't be able to do half the amazing explosions I do without a little fire!"

"No fucking duh!" Rafaela hissed.

Minemi rolled her eyes. "It's Shinya and Lucille." The entire corridor shifted to the right.

Shinya's eyes widened. "How the hell did you…"

"Dear, I'm the Ultimate Parapsychologist for a reason," Minemi responded with a small smile. "I know you might dislike the paranormal, but we have an elf, a spider-centaur, and an anthropomorphic cat with us. It's high time you get over that."

"_**Who has taken a life?**_" The Beast inquired.

"What the fuck-tard kind of a question is that?!" Rafaela exclaimed.

Yui sighed before raising her hand. "If my talent wasn't an indicator…"

Alice's attention turned to the girl. "You're only twelve, though."

Yui shrugged her shoulders. "I've done what I had to, so I could survive."

Percy glanced around at the group. "Is Yui really only the one?"

"I guess," Kitty muttered.

"_**Hahaha!**_" The Beast's laughter echoed through the hallway. "_**You're wrong! So many of you have blood on your hands, but only one of you had the guts to speak up!**_" Percy and Kitty's eyes widened as the corridor by them, Garnet, and Iyasa shifted.

"Oh God, no!" Kitty screamed. She tried to run away from the wall, but she wasn't fast enough. The wall snapped shut.

"We've just lost four people!" Christel snapped. She then glared at those remaining in the hallway. "I don't care why, but we shouldn't lie with a game like this!"

"The pipsqueak is right," Henry interjected. Christel glared bullets at the Rescuer, causing him to shiver. "We're in a situation where we can't afford to keep secrets."

"Easy for you to say," Rafaela grumbled while crossing her arms over her chest. She looked away from the group. "There are some things about myself I'd like to keep private."

"_**Last question, and this one will count the most,**_" the Beast announced. "_**If I get an answer I deem good, then I'll bring everyone back to this corridor and shift you all directly to the stairwell. If I don't, then you all are going to be split apart.**_"

Alice drew in a deep breath before looking around at everyone. "I think everyone should group up just in case we get this wrong."

"Considering how the last few questions have gone, that would be a wise idea," Minemi replied. She stepped over to Yoshi and Rafaela.

Yoshi smiled at the silver-haired girl. "So you want to be our partner?"

Minemi smiled. "Why of course. Someone has to make sure you two don't kill yourselves."

Christel glared at Henry, but she let out a sigh and joined the man. "Considering all of the other people who could carry you are gone, I suppose I can help you."

"I can assist in that as well, in case this goes wrong," Yui offered.

Henry sighed. "Great, I'm going to be dragged around by the two smallest people that aren't young children."

"We could just leave you to hop around on your own," Yui suggested. Henry remained silent.

"_**Final question, whose parents have the highest body count?**_" Everyone's eyes widened in response.

"What on earth?" Takeshi muttered.

"Okay, whose parents are in the fucking mob?" Rafaela snapped her head around to look at the remaining group.

"My brother has a body count, but neither of my parents do," Yui claimed.

Yoshi let out a defeated sigh. "I wouldn't know."

"My parents are normal people," Christel stated.

"So are mine," Henry and Gemma added. Fera and Shinya nodded.

Minemi's smile fell. "My parents did many… bad things, but they never killed anyone."

Rafaela glared down the hallway before taking a deep breath. "As far as I know, my parents and my brother killed at least two women."

Yoshi glanced down at Jamie and Hideki. "Is it safe to assume their parents were good people?"

"We have no choice but to assume that," Alice responded. She drew in a deep breath, tears pricking her eyes. "As for me… one for certain."

"For certain?" Henry inquired. Alice nodded.

"I think it's m-my dad," Takeshi claimed. "He w-worked for the military and even F-Fenrir."

"_**Is that your final answer**_**?"** The Beast inquired. When no one responded, the Beast let out a small snicker. It slowly grew and grew until the laughter echoed down the corridor. "_**You're wrong!**_"

"Who wasn't telling the truth?!" Rafaela snapped. The ground began to rumble under their feet.

Minemi's eyes widened, a look of realization taking over her face. "We all were telling the truth as far as we knew, but the Beast might have knowledge we don't."

"That's not fair, though," Yoshi complained. "How could we answer something we don't know?"

"**Because that's how despair works!"** The Beast exclaimed. **"Ahaha! Good luck getting reconnected!"** Alice's grip on Hideki, Jamie, and Gemma tightened as the wall by them shifted. Gemma grabbed onto Takeshi's hand, pulling him into the small group right before they disappeared. Minemi, Rafaela, and Yoshi were the next to disappear. Shinya's eyes widened as Fera was about to get hit by the shifting wall. He ran over to the Ghostwriter and pushed him out of the way, unknowingly leading to both of them getting trapped behind another wall. Yui, Christel, and Henry were the last group to go.

The hallway was now empty, except for one lone figure. Cadoc glared down the hallway. "Damn it, just missed them. One more second, and I could've killed the three weakest." He sneered. "Oh well, the chase will just make the kill so much more satisfying." Cadoc let out a loud, laughing roar. "Those weaklings will never know what hit them!"

* * *

**? Survivors Remain**

**1 Limb Lost**

* * *

**And thus, the group is split apart! While I did have an outline for this story, I left it somewhere and can't find it, so...I remember most things, but the next few puzzles will probably off the cuff. It's uncertain yet. Also, I am so, so sorry for the late update. I am trying to get better on this stuff. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Stay tune for the next one, where some characters will no doubt be having emotional breakdowns! **


	6. Chapter 5: Phantoms of the Past Part 1

**Chapter 5: Phantoms of the Past Part 1**

**3:35 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 7**

"Ma belle!" Lucille shouted. She launched herself after Tenshi as the wall spun the girl away from her. It snapped shut behind them, leaving the two in a dimly lit hallway. Tenshi had her face hidden in her hands while she silently cried. Lucille's eyes widened as she rushed over to the Iaidoka. "Tenshi, ma belle?"

"Don't come near me," Tenshi ordered, her voice choking from her tears. Lucille complied by taking a few steps back. "I should've listened to my dad. I'm a freak. I'm a freak!"

"Ma belle," Lucille muttered. She hated seeing the girl who had been so confident reduced to tears before her.

Tenshi snapped her head up to look at the Racer. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her mascara was running. "Why are you still calling me that?! You heard the Beast! I'm not a real girl! I can dress up and wear makeup and wigs and manipulate my voice all I want, but I'm still biologically… a boy. You probably even felt it when I got on your shoulders."

Lucille sighed. This had to be done delicately. She knelt down in front of the sobbing girl. "Ma belle, I did feel it, but I did not care." Tenshi peeked up at Lucille cautiously. The Racer gave her a small, kind smile in return. "You are a girl. Yes, you have certain parts that most girls don't, and yes, some people don't find that appealing. They are allowed to feel that way, but I don't care, ma cherie." Lucille gently pulled the Iaidoka into a tight hug. "Tenshi, ma belle, the Beast is trying to get under your skin by saying you aren't a girl. He wants to break your confidence. Don't let him."

Tenshi sniffled before nodding. "I won't. I won't let him break me."

Lucille ran a hand through Tenshi's auburn hair. "If you didn't know, 'ma belle' means my beauty."

"I figured as much, Lucy."

"Well, I call you that because it is true. You're a very beautiful girl, Tenshi."

Tenshi was silent for a moment before chuckling. "I won't admit it too often, but I was such a dummy back there… I'm sorry."

"I was the one who chose to follow you."

"It's just…" Tenshi let out a frustrated sigh and wiped at her eyes. "When I came out to my dad, he didn't react well. We fought over it… We always did. He had such a strict view on being an Iaidoka, and me being myself didn't fit into that view." Tenshi wiped her eyes again, tears continuing to flow. "He didn't accept me until he was on his deathbed."

With a nod, Lucille rubbed circles on Tenshi's back. "Well, ma belle, you don't have to worry about me." Without thinking, she pressed a kiss against her lips.

Tenshi blinked at the Racer, eyes wide. "Did you just…? You just kissed me." Lucille's face flushed red, causing Tenshi to snicker. "Never thought I'd see your face as red as your suit, Lucy."

"It felt like the right thing to do in the moment."

Tenshi giggled before standing up and dusting off her skirt. "That's very bold of you, considering we met just a few hours ago."

Quickly bouncing back from her embarrassment, Lucille smirked up at the girl. "What can I say, ma belle? You are so lovely that I just couldn't resist."

"If you're gonna keep acting like this, then maybe we can try something when we're out of here." Before Lucille could respond, a brick on the wall near them moved away and a phone slid out of the empty slot.

The two girls stared at it for a moment before Lucille took hold of it. "It seems this is the Beast's way of handling us being split apart," she said.

"Do you think he'll give the other groups food?"

Lucille glanced down the hallway with a sigh. "I don't know, ma belle. All we can do is wait to hear from them."

* * *

**3:39 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 18**

After the wall slammed shut, Anthony and Gilbert turned their attention to the sole girl of their group. "Why would you lie to us?" Gilbert questioned.

Arachne's eyes widened. "I didn't… I didn't think he would actually know."

Anthony quickly placed himself between Gilbert and Arachne. "Let's just try and calm down a bit." He looked at the spider-girl with a sympathetic expression. "Arachne, I would normally say that you are entitled to your secrets, but you knew the consequences of the game."

Arachne fiddled with her wrists before two skin-colored cuffs fell off of them. Anthony and Gilbert could now see the faded scars on her wrists. "I love being part spider. I really do. It's so much fun, and it makes my name take even more meaning to it! It's just… I could feel my bones splitting apart and the entirety of my bottom half transforming into this. It took a week for it to stop, but I was afraid that the pain would last forever. I didn't even draw any blood. I just scarred my wrists up." Tears pricked her eyes.

"And when the Beast asked that, I thought, 'What if my parents are watching this? What if this is being broadcasted like other killing games, and this is how they learn their only daughter got weak and tried to kill herself?'" The girl wiped at her eyes. "I never even told my parents I tried to do that and… I just couldn't bear the thought of this being how they learned." Arachne sighed. "I'm sorry. I know that doesn't excuse me lying, since this set back could mean the difference between us escaping or not. I just… I didn't want my parents to know I was weak."

"The fact you decided to keep on living after your first try shows just how strong you are," Anthony argued. "And honestly, if I were in your position, I probably would've done the same. That doesn't make you weak. That makes you human." He took hold of Arachne's hands and smiled at the girl. "Some in your position would've tried again, but you didn't. You decided to wait out the pain and take the second chance you were given."

Arachne cracked a smile. "Thank you, Tony," she muttered.

Gilbert bowed his head. "I owe you an apology, Arachne. My behavior towards you was reprehensible."

"It's fine, Gilbert." Arachne sighed. "I would've gotten mad too if the situations were reversed."

Without warning, a bag and a phone slid out of a small hole in the wall. The three approached the objects, unsure of what they might do. Anthony picked up the phone while Arachne grabbed the bag. She dug around it before smiling. "It's food. This has to be enough for at least three meals."

Anthony hummed. "So, the Beast is providing us with a means of communication and food… Why would a member of Despair give us all that when it would be more despairing to see us go without food?"

"Perhaps the Beast wants us to make it to whatever despair-filled games he has planned for us," Gilbert suggested.

"Whatever the reason, we have food and water, and we should get moving if we want to get out of here," Arachne interrupted. The two men looked down the long hallway before nodding. With all of their items in hand, the trio began their trek down the hallway.

* * *

**3:42 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 12**

"Oh God, no!" Kitty shouted, trying to run past the wall as it rotated. However, she was too late. The wall slammed shut, trapping her, Iyasa, Garnet, and Percy. Kitty stared at the wall with wide eyes. She spun around to face her group. "Be honest… Did any of you guys kill someone?"

"Hell no!" Percy and Garnet shouted.

Iyasa hummed while tapping his chin. "As far as I can remember, I've never killed anyone." A wild grin broke out across his face. "Kekeke! Who knows? Maybe I have a psychotic second personality that's murdered people!"

Kitty sighed. "Okay then, I'm good… I think."

"You think?" Percy questioned.

"Well, I'm not exactly going to be good considering the situation, but I'm at least not with any crazy killers," Kitty chirped. "So that's good."

Garnet shrugged. "Fair enough."

Kitty looked around the hallway. They were right by a dead end while the other end was wide open. "So… Do you think we should get moving?"

"Might as well," Iyasa replied. "It's not like we need anything." He gestured at Kitty. "We have the girl with it all! Food, a phone, and beauty to spare!"

Kitty chuckled. "Thank you, Iya. You're too sweet." She reached over to the mngwa and petted him behind the ears. Iyasa let out a purr, which made her squeal. "AH! You're such a big kitty, and your fur is so soft!" She glanced over at Garnet and Percy with a bright smile. "Guys! Pet Iyasa's fur!" The two boys glanced at each other before shrugging and joining Kitty.

However, the petting stopped as quickly as it started. A piece of paper fluttered down from the ceiling. Percy reached for it, and a giant smile broke across his face. "Awesome! We got a map!" The group gathered around Percy to look at the paper.

Garnet gasped. "If we can get in contact with everyone, we might be able to figure out a meeting point! This is perfect!"

"Why the hell would the Beast give us this?" Kitty questioned. "I mean, I'm not about to look a gift-tiger in the mouth, but still…"

Iyasa glanced down at the girl. "Don't you mean 'gift-horse?'"

"I don't work with horses, Iya," Kitty retorted. Iyasa shrugged in response. "Anyways, we should get moving! That stupid-ass game took away valuable time from our escape!" Kitty let out an annoyed huff. "I swear, I hate the person who put us here even more than bobcats."

Percy glanced down at the map before turning to the left and leading the group of four down the hallway. "By the way, Kitty, why do you hate bobcats so much?" Garnet inquired.

"Well, it all started three years ago," Kitty began.

* * *

**3:49 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 1**

When the wall finished rotating, Shinya let out a sigh. "Damn it!"

"Um… are you going to stay on top of me?" Fera inquired. Shinya glanced down at the Ghostwriter before realizing that he was still on top of the smaller male. He scrambled off of him as quickly as he could. "That's a no?"

"Obviously not, if I'm no longer on you," Shinya retorted. His cheeks were still a bright shade of red. He stood up and brushed off his clothes.

"Why did you tackle me? Did I do something wrong?"

Shinya raised an eyebrow. "Did you not notice the wall that was about to hit you?" When Fera remained silent, Shinya sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, there was."

"And you decided to pin me to the ground?"

"I was trying to get you out of the way!" Shinya's face turned even redder. "I meant to just push you out of the way, but I stumbled."

Fera cracked a smile. "Thank you, Shinya." The Ghostwriter stood up and smiled up at the Toxicologist. "Thank you for saving me."

"I literally pushed you out of the way of a wall." Shinya nervously scratched the back of his neck. "It was nothing."

"But no one's ever helped me before. You could've let the wall hit me, but you didn't." Shinya's gaze on the smaller male softened. Fera cracked a small smile. "You helped me."

The sound of a brick being slid away interrupted them. Shinya snapped his head back to see a phone and a backpack slide out of a hole in the wall. "What the hell?" he muttered.

"It seems Tony's concerns have been answered," Fera commented.

"It seems you're right." Shinya walked over to the items and grabbed them. "Do you want to carry the phone or the backpack?"

Fera pondered the question for a moment before responding, "The phone." With a nod, Shinya passed the item over to the writer. He then slid the second pack over his shoulders. "Shall we go?"

The Toxicologist looked around. The left hallway was completely blocked off while the other side was wide open. However, there was an open alcove right in front of them. "Want to go straight or right?" Fera glanced back and forth at the spots before pointing forward. Shinya nodded and led the way down the hallway.

"Why do you think we're here?"

Shinya cocked an eyebrow. "In this game? I wish I knew. I would guess despair."

Fera nodded, before asking, "Why give us food, then?"

Shinya sighed again. "Well, there's only one way to put this. My lab keeps mice. We keep them for the sole purpose of identifying and testing poisons. However, we have to keep the mice healthy before and during the experiments."

"So, we're the Beast's lab rats, and he wants us healthy for his game."

"Why have a game meant for despair if all the contestants decide to stop playing because they're hungry or unable to hear the rules?"

The Toxicologist kept his gaze on Fera, who simply nodded to show he took in the information. There was something the Ghostwriter said earlier that kept sticking to him. "Fera? Earlier, when you said that no one's ever helped you before… What did you mean by that?"

Fera cast his eyes to the ground. "I'm a ghostwriter, but my classmates always treated me just as a ghost. And if they did notice me… Well, it made me wish they didn't." He rubbed his arm. "I always tried so hard for nothing."

Shinya's gaze snapped away from the Ghostwriter. "I… I understand how you feel." Fera's eyes widened and he turned his attention to the taller male, who sighed for the umpteenth time. "My mom tried her hardest to bring in money, but we were still poor; and my classmates were little pieces of shit who thought it was hilarious."

"That's awful."

Shinya shrugged. "After the first time, it stopped bothering me." Fera fiddled with his sleeves, making Shinya's attention return to the Ghostwriter. "That doesn't make the way they treated me right. Same goes for your jackass classmates."

"It didn't bother me much either," Fera mumbled. "At least they were paying attention to me…"

The two walked in silence for a few more minutes before Shinya sighed. "We're going to be alone for God knows how long, so tell me about your work."

Fera stared up at Shinya with wide eyes. "Really?"

"It's just so we aren't walking in silence forever," Shinya claimed, trying to hide a forming blush. When a bright smile broke across Fera's face, Shinya knew he failed.

* * *

**3:52 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 9**

Minemi fought back a huff as she, Yoshi, and Rafaela continued walking. Aside from the amount of swear words Rafaela had thrown at the wall, they had remained relatively silent. "Yoshi, dear, any messages or updates with the phone yet?" Minemi inquired.

"Not yet. Maybe I should try calling 911."

"If you do, the Beast will probably shock you to death," Minemi retorted. "Assuming he's even left that ability open for us."

Yoshi groaned. "I just want to get us all out of here."

"You aren't the only one," Rafaela growled. "Damn it! I want to meet the cock guzzler who brought us here and shove my fist down their fucking throat!"

"Your left fist, right?" Yoshi asked.

Rafaela chuckled, before holding up her right fist. "Nope!" Her hand transformed into a blade. "I'll slice them up from the inside out."

Yoshi's eyes widened. "But then that makes you no better than them!" Rafaela cocked an eyebrow and looked back at the Actress. "If you plan to hurt them, or kill them even, then you're no better than they are for putting us in here!"

Minemi hummed. "What if the mastermind behind all this escaped, though?" Yoshi gave the silver-haired girl a confused look. "What if the only way for the mastermind to face justice was to be killed by one of us? And if we didn't, they'd escape to possibly start another game similar to this."

Yoshi bit her lip. "Killing is just wrong. No matter the situation." Minemi giggled, making Yoshi glare at the girl. "Do you think murder is okay?!"

"Dear, let me ask you something before I answer your question," Minemi responded. "Say one of us here killed another out of self-defense. Would you consider that wrong?"

"Well…" Yoshi paused before letting out a sigh of defeat. "No, I guess not."

"What if one of us accidentally killed someone, or they had to kill for survival, like Yui?" When Yoshi remained silent, Minemi giggled. "Dear, I do not think cold-blooded murder is okay, but there are so many shades of gray within killing. Even within cold-blooded murder, I find there to be shades of gray as well. For instance, say someone here had horrible parents and they killed them years later as revenge." Rafaela glanced back at Minemi, eyes briefly widening. Minemi giggled once more.

Yoshi, on the other hand, seemed horrified at the idea. "That's just as awful as cold-blooded murder!"

"But if the parents were abusive and the only way they could face justice was by being killed, then is it so bad?" Minemi asked.

"It is!" Yoshi argued. "That person took the law into their own hands and decided to take a life! That's not justice! That's vigilantism!"

Minemi hummed. "I take it you're not a fan of Batman."

"He doesn't kill!" Yoshi retorted. "In your scenario, the person's killed their parents. Even if the law couldn't do anything, that doesn't mean that they'll go unpunished for the rest of their lives. Besides, it's not like anyone here would kill in cold blood!"

Minemi cracked a smile. "Tehehe! Oh, how I love a hero wannabe, trying to prove the good in everyone. It's adorably naïve, yet awfully presumptuous of you. No one is void of committing murder. We're all human. Anyone can kill; even the nicest, purest soul is capable of slitting your throat."

Yoshi stared at the girl with wide, fearful eyes. "You can't truly believe that," she whimpered.

"Kid, Mimi's right," Rafaela interjected, speaking up for the first time in the conversation. Minemi's eye twitched at the nickname, but she remained silent otherwise. "Where I come from, you see people doing all sorts of messed up shit. The police are as useful as turds in a shitter, so, for a lot of people, the only way to get justice is by taking things into their own hands." Yoshi opened her mouth to argue, when Rafaela spun around to face the girl. Anger was the only emotion Yoshi could see. "And if you ask me, until you live that sort of life, you can't say shit about it!"

Tears filled Yoshi's eyes. "Do you think I don't know? I was treated like…. Like absolute shit!" Minemi raised an eyebrow while Rafaela took a step back. Neither of them had heard the actress curse, and the anger appearing on Yoshi's face was completely foreign to the two. "Before I became an actress, I was an orphan born out of wedlock! Or did you just forget that, Red?! I wanted nothing more than for someone, anyone to give me or the other orphans a helping hand! Instead, we were looked down on, spat on, abused, and so, so much more! However, I would never, ever in a thousand years murder any of them! I don't know who or what hurt you two, but it doesn't excuse cold-blooded murder at all!"

Her eyes flickered back and forth between the other two girls. "You two have also taken lives, haven't you?" When Rafaela turned her gaze away, and when Minemi's smile fell, Yoshi took a step back. She then took another step.

"Yoshi, dear, don't do anything rash," Minemi ordered. "We need to stick together."

Yoshi shook her head, eyes filling with tears once again. "I can't… You're going to kill me."

Rafaela drew in a deep breath. "Yoshi, I'll admit, I've taken lives. They were all intentional, and most of them were on murderers, rapists, and fucked up people. However, I never intentionally took an innocent person's life."

Yoshi whimpered. "So, you've killed innocents."

"Not intentionally," Rafaela repeated. She held out her left hand. "Mimi's right; we have to stick together. I promise neither of us will hurt you." Yoshi's eyes snapped over to Minemi, who gave a slight nod. She turned her attention back to Rafaela before grabbing her hand. Rafaela smiled brightly. "There we go! Now we can get this show back on the truck-fucking road!"

Minemi sighed and rolled her eyes. "Maybe we can figure out how to make her cusses make more sense."

Then the phone began to ring.

* * *

**3:52 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 20**

"You know, I don't even know why I sawed my foot off for this," Henry stated. Currently, he was being dragged along the ground by Yui and Christel. His mask was hanging around his neck; frustration and anger were very apparent on his face.

"Stop your whining," Christel huffed, sweat dripping from her forehead. "You're not the one dragging someone twice your weight and height."

"I don't think I can keep doing this," Henry continued. "I don't even know what I'm dealing with anymore. I woke up in this maze, got put into a chokehold by a midget, had to saw my foot off, have been touched so many fucking times, and am now being dragged around by the two smallest girls in the group." As he ranted, his expression continued to grow more and more crazed. However, in response to the short comments, Christel smacked him upside the head.

Henry only growled in response. His eyes glazed over for a moment before they gained a new fire in them. A new fire that both Yui and Christel completely missed. "You've got to draw a line somewhere. You've got to draw a line in the sand."

"He's still going," Yui muttered.

"You've got to make a statement!" Henry shouted. "You've got to look inside yourself and say, 'What am I willing to put up with today?' Not fucking this!" He stopped when Christel hit him again. "OW! What the fuck?!"

"Keep shouting like that, and I swear to God I'll put you out of your misery with one of Yui's guns!" Christel threatened.

"Hit me again like that, bitch, and I'll slice you open," Henry hissed.

Yui sighed. "I would appreciate my guns not be used for stupid reasons on stupid people." She glanced at Henry. "Although, I don't think Henry has been this erratic so far."

"Who said I'm Henry?"

The two girls stared at each other with wide eyes before dropping the man and moving away from him. Yui pulled the gun from her right holster out and pointed it at Henry. "What's going on with you?"

The Rescuer chuckled, before pushing himself off the ground. "Guess the stress was getting to Henry so much that he decided to let me take over." He moved to balance on his one foot before bowing. "Pleasure to meet both of you young ladies! Hei, mukava tavata sinut. I am Toivo Hautamäki, the self-proclaimed Ultimate Organ Harvester, but you're free to call me Tobi. Try not to let the title phase you. If it does, well… I can't help you there."

"Organ Harvester…" Christel muttered.

"Should I shoot him?" Yui questioned.

Tobi chuckled. "Feel free to. Just remember, if my body's discovered, you have to either give yourself up or abandon everyone to go to the center." Before either girl could respond, though, the phone in Christel's hand rang.

* * *

**3:55 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 15**

Alice bit her lip as the group trudged down the hallway. The Beast's last questions were still playing through her mind. "_What if he's killed more than I thought? He couldn't have._" She glanced over at Jamie. "_And why does Jamie look so much like him… Considering what he did to Mom, it's a possibility he cheated on her. How could the Beast know…? And why did he only say four? Why did I only say four? How could I only say four? How could I forget them? How could I be so awful to forget them? I almost lost Jamie. I had to get someone else to feed Hideki. I couldn't drink that tumbler. I couldn't even confess to what I did. Why am I always such a failure?_"

Alice was pulled out of her thoughts by Jamie muttering, "Miss Alice."

The Caregiver glanced down at the boy, plastering a smile onto her face. "Yes, Jamie?"

"What's your favorite kind of child?" Jamie stared at the Caregiver with wide eyes.

"Why do you ask, Jamie?"

The eight-year-old shrugged. "I'm just curious."

"That's an interesting, q-question," Takeshi interjected.

"Well, Alice has worked with so many kids," Gemma argued.

Alice chuckled, glad to think of something a bit more positive. "Well, I've taken care of more than just kids. Yes, my primary field is children, but I've also looked after pets, plants, the elderly, and even people with mental or physical handicaps. Admittedly, those last two have been more recent additions."

Gemma gasped, her eyes wide. "Whoa, you've worked with that many?! That's so cool!"

"It is v-very impressive," Takeshi added.

Alice let out a fond sigh. "Even if it wasn't, I enjoy my work. I love taking care of people, children especially…" Tears pricked her eyes, but she was quick to hide them. "I've taken care of so many children, though, that I don't think I could pick my favorite type of child."

Jamie blinked up at the Caregiver. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that every child has something so amazing and unique about them that it's impossible for me to pick just one type," Alice clarified. "I want the children I look after to be happy, healthy, and well-behaved." She gave Jamie's hair a small ruffle. "And that's what should matter most."

Gemma gasped, interrupting the conversation. "Guys! The phone just turned on!"

"Is there anything o-on it?" Takeshi questioned.

"I just have a contact list with a bunch of numbers on it," Gemma stated.

Alice paused. "Do you think those might allow us to contact everyone else?"

Gemma's eyes widened, and a smile made its way across her face. "It might! Should I try a group call?" Takeshi and Alice glanced at each other before looking back at Gemma and nodding. Gemma tapped around on the phone before waiting patiently. After a few moments, the dial tone stopped.

"_Hello?_" Kitty greeted.

"_Kitty?_" Yoshi questioned. "_Did you call us?_"

"No, that was me," Gemma clarified. "Our phone turned on, and a bunch of phone numbers appeared on the screen."

"_Any idea why your phone turned on?_" Shinya questioned.

"No clue, it just did," Gemma responded.

"She's t-telling the truth," Takeshi confirmed.

"_Keshi, are you with Gemma?_" Anthony asked.

A smile broke out across Takeshi's face. "Tony! You're okay!" The Medic cleared his throat, quickly regaining his composure. "Yes, I'm with Gemma. Jamie, Alice, and Hideki are with us, also."

Minemi hummed. "_That would make you all the largest group._"

"_You bet'cha, Mimi!_" Tobi teased.

Alice cocked an eyebrow. "Was that Henry?"

Christel's sigh could be heard over the phone. "_Yui and I don't know the details, but it seems Henry has a second personality named Tobi, and he's calling himself… He's calling himself the Ultimate Organ Harvester._"

"_So that fuckwit killed people, and he didn't say cockshit?!_" Rafaela exclaimed.

"_Like you're one to talk, Red,_" Yoshi hissed.

"_Wait, what are you guys talking about?_" Arachne inquired.

"After you, Tony, and Gilbert were taken away, the Beast changed the game to ask us questions," Gemma explained. "And one of the questions was 'who's taken a life?'. Yui was the only one to admit to it."

"_And from the sounds of it, you're also a fuckwit, Red,_" Tobi taunted.

"_I had my fucking reasons!_" Rafaela argued.

"_Can everyone shut up for a moment?!_" Kitty exclaimed. The call remained silent. "_Thank you. Anyways, the Beast gave us a map. We managed to figure out we're in Hallway 12… again. If you guys are near any doors, we might be able to learn where you guys are and what route to take._"

Both Shinya and Minemi said, "_Kitty, that's genius._"

"_That's amazing, Kitty,_" Lucille interjected.

"Lucille, how's Tenshi doing?" Alice inquired.

Lucille sighed. "_She's still a bit shaken, but she's far better than before… Anyways, Kitty, to give you an idea, Tenshi and I are approaching a door with a yellow flower on it._"

"_No doors in our hallway,_" Tobi stated.

"_Same here,_" Yoshi added.

Alice nodded. "We're also not near any doors."

"_Fera and I have found a door with a blue flower on it,_" Shinya confessed.

"_A daisy for us,_" Gilbert admitted.

The sound of a map rustling could be heard. "_Okay, all groups currently by a door, don't go through them,_" Garnet ordered."_They'll put you further away from the stairwell. Shinya and Fera, you guys are in Hallway 1. Tony's group, you're in Hallway 18. Lucille, Tenshi, you're in Hallway 7. As for the other groups, we won't be able to tell where you are until you find a door or a dead end._"

Gemma gasped as her group approached a door with a rose on it. "Garnet, Garnet! We're near a door! It has a rose on it!"

Garnet chuckled. "_That's awesome! Hold on a sec… It seems you guys are in Hallway 15. Avoid that door; it has the same issues as the other ones. For now, we can direct the groups where to go to get to the stairwell. To the groups that haven't found a door yet, just keep us posted._" After some brief directions, which Fera admitted to writing down just in case, the groups all seemed to have an idea of where to go.

Then a new number popped onto the screen. "_**Wonderful to see that you all can still get along, even when split apart like this**_," the Beast interjected.

"_And here I was hoping we wouldn't have to hear from you_," Kitty grumbled.

"Why are you t-talking to us?" Takeshi questioned.

"_**Simple, I'm introducing your next challenge to you all**_," the Beast announced. Alice brought Jamie close to her and held Hideki close to her chest as panels on the walls slid up, revealing television screens. Static was playing on them. "_**Since some of you weren't honest in the last game, we're going to play another. I'm going to play some footage of some of you, but whoever's footage is playing can't speak. If they do, more teams will be split apart, and I won't be as generous this next time. Of course, if I ask you to speak, then you can.**_"

"_What is the purpose of this challenge?_" Shinya inquired.

"_**You'll see soon enough,**_" the Beast responded. With that, the screens powered on.

* * *

_A much younger Gemma, who had no elf features, was shown on screen. From the shot of the footage, it was clear that it was filmed by a security camera. She was sitting on a rather expensive-looking couch with her hands folded in her lap. Sitting next to her was an older man with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. This man was Gemma's father, Rupert Hawkwood. "Do you think Mummy will be able to come to this one?" Gemma asked, staring at Rupert with hopeful eyes. Before he could respond, Gemma cut him off. "I know she's busy, but I really want her to come to at least one competition."_

_Her father sighed and cracked a smile. "I know, dear. Maybe you can ask her. I think she doesn't have anything planned."_

"_Ask me what?" Her mother, Maria Hawkwood, walked into view of the camera._

_Gemma perked up and ran over to her mom, bouncing in place. "Mummy, Mummy, will you be able to come to my archery tournament? It's this Saturday, and Daddy said you might be free."_

_Her mother let out a heavy sigh before glancing up at Rupert and then back down at her jumping child. "Gemma, I'm going out of town again. Mummy's vineyard needs to be watched over again."_

_Gemma's smile fell in an instant. "Okay… How long will you be gone?"_

"_At least two weeks," her mother clarified. "In fact, I'm leaving tomorrow, so I need to start packing." With that, Maria walked right past her daughter. Gemma's bottom lip began to quiver._

* * *

Gemma's eyes filled with tears, and Alice rushed to pull the blonde into a hug. "It's okay, dear."

"A-Alice, the clips are still playing," Takeshi stated. Alice turned her attention to the walls. More clips of Gemma asking her mom to come watch her matches played, each one ending in rejection and Gemma's father comforting her. Then the final clip began to play.

* * *

_Maria glared at her husband. "I cannot believe you would let her outside like that."_

"_Why would I lock her up?" Rupert questioned. "It was another competition."_

"_She's an elf, Rupert!" Maria exclaimed. "She's…" Maria drew in a sharp breath. "She's no longer human. She's no longer our daughter."_

"_She was never your daughter," Rupert grumbled._

_Maria cocked an eyebrow. "What was that?"_

"_You heard me!" He shouted. "You treat both me and Gemma like inconveniences to you! Despite that, though, she loves you and wants your attention! For Christ's sake, Maria, you're her mother!"_

"_I am not a mother to some monster!" Maria hissed._

"_Mum, Dad," Gemma interrupted, stepping into the living room. She now had her elf features._

_Rupert instantly lost any anger in him as he rushed over to Gemma. "Gemma, dear, what's wrong? What are you doing up so early?"_

"_I haven't needed much sleep lately," Gemma stated, rubbing at her eyes. She glanced back and forth between her parents. "Is everything okay?" Maria simply scoffed before storming off. Gemma stared at her mother with sad eyes. "Did I do something wrong?"_

* * *

Gemma burst into tears, hiding her face in the crook of Alice's shoulder. Hideki began to pat Gemma's hair in an attempt to comfort the Archer. Everyone was frozen still. This was only the first set of videos, and they managed to make one of the happier people in the group this upset.

What else could the Beast have in store for them?

* * *

**22 Survivors Remain**

**1 Limb Lost**

* * *

**Author's Note: And thus, more pasts are revealed, and people are now about to be emotionally traumatized! Also, you guys might want to start preparing yourselves for something...I'm not going to say what. Now, first, big thanks to the amazing betas who made this so much less awkward to read! Second, big thanks to Celestial Sky Dragon for making such a quotable rant on Discord that I had to semi-quote him in this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!**


	7. Chapter 6: Phantoms of the Past Part 2

**Chapter 6: Phantoms of the Past Part 2**

**4:02 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 20**

Christel felt her heart break, hearing Gemma's sobs over the phone. The clips of the girl's mother had clearly hurt the Archer, and Christel could only offer her condolences.

"So, Beast, who's the next unlucky victim?" Tobi questioned, hopping after Yui and Christel.

"_**You'll see soon enough**_," the Beast argued. With that, a phone number disappeared from the screen.

"_How long will he play videos of us?_" Percy questioned, sounding nervous.

"_If I had to guess, probably for as long as we're split apart,_" Minemi answered.

"_Gemma, dear, we need to get moving,_" Alice stated, forgetting the call was still going on. When Gemma's sobs did not cease, the sound of shuffling could be heard. "_Takeshi, can you take Hideki? We can't afford to stop, and Gemma needs to get through this._" More shuffling was heard.

"_Wow, Miss Alice, you're strong!_" Jamie exclaimed.

Alice grunted. "_This is nothing, honestly._"

"Alice, are you carrying Gemma?" Christel inquired.

"_She is!_" Jamie confirmed. "_She's giving Miss Gemma a piggyback ride!_"

"_That is one way to keep moving,_" Minemi commented.

Christel tuned out the call as she, Yui, and Tobi kept walking. She kept finding herself glancing over her shoulder at Tobi, who soon snickered.

"What's on your mind, short stack?" he asked.

"Don't call me short," Christel hissed. "And how the hell did Henry get you? Is Henry even the original?"

"Oh, he is; don't worry yourself over that," Tobi reassured. "Things were too stressful for him, so he switched over to me." He chuckled, a smirk making its way across his face. "Something tells me that wasn't what you wanted to ask me, though."

Christel bit her lip, unsure of how to ask. Yui, however, seemed to beat her to the punch. "Have you ever killed anyone?"

Tobi let out a loud bark of laughter. "Have I ever killed anyone? What do you think?! I'm the Ultimate Organ Harvester for a reason!" Yui paused before wheeling around and pointing her gun at Tobi again. He merely stared at the gun with a surprised expression. "I thought you decided to not take the risk."

"I've been trained to take out dangerous threats, and you're a dangerous threat," Yui explained.

"_What's going on?_" Kitty questioned.

"Yui's got a gun pointed at Tobi," Christel said.

Tobi snickered. "You gonna pull the trigger, kid? Everyone will know that it was you, and I doubt they'll send you straight to the center." Yui contemplated the decision before placing her finger on the trigger.

"Yui," Christel interjected. She placed her hand on Yui's shoulder. "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm killing this man," Yui stated. "He's a threat."

"To Ultimate Despair, maybe," Tobi interrupted. "To you all, I'm not. Don't get on my bad side, and we'll be great!"

Yui eyed the older man with a cocked eyebrow. "And why should I believe you?"

"Yui, if you don't, then you're giving up your life," Christel argued. "You're only twelve. You shouldn't be giving up your life for anything. You should be enjoying it."

Yui sighed before lowering her gun. She then glared at Tobi. "The moment you hurt any of us, I will shoot you."

"Sounds like a fair deal to me," Tobi responded, a bright smile on his face.

Christel turned back around. "Let's… Let's just get back to walking." She slung an arm around Yui's shoulder and led her forward. Tobi chuckled before hopping after them.

* * *

**4:07 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 12**

Kitty bit her lip. As the screen turned from static to another home video, she felt her nerves begin to get worse and worse. What if it was footage of her?

* * *

_A young man with tanned skin and green eyes was smiling down at a four-year-old sitting on his lap._

* * *

Christel let out a small gasp while Iyasa's eyes widened. "Who gasped? What's wrong?" Percy questioned. Iyasa wanted to answer for Christel, but he couldn't.

"_That's Iyasa,_" Christel explained. Iyasa's group looked back at him, sympathy all over their faces.

* * *

_Iyasa gently bounced the child, his smile growing as the child giggled. Off-screen, a young woman cooed. "You're so good with him, Iya."_

"_It's no problem, Aunt Kya," Iyasa reassured. He tickled the boy under his chin._

"_Iya," the boy whined, trying to pull away from the cuddles. "No tickles!"_

_Iyasa chuckled. "Kekeke! Sorry, Kit, but the tickle monster never stops!" The young man smirked and began to mercilessly tickle his cousin. Loud giggles filled the air from the child, along with the woman behind the camera._

"_Mommy! Make Iya stop!"_

_The woman behind the camera giggled before clearing her throat. "Iyasa, let Kitai breathe for a moment," she ordered._

_The camera immediately cut to Iyasa sitting on the beach with Kitai by his side. "Kit, don't you want to go out to the water?" Iyasa asked, his voice soft. Kitai shook his head. "Why not?"_

_Kitai fiddled with the edge of his swim trunks. "Sharks…"_

_Iyasa couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Kekeke! Is that all? Kit, there are no sharks out there. Maybe some little minnows, but that's it."_

"_Minnows?" Kitai inquired._

"_Cute, tiny little fish," Iyasa explained. He cracked a smile. "Kind of like you!" He then began to mercilessly tickle Kitai's sides again._

_The little boy fell onto his back and tried to crawl away from his cousin. "Iya! Stop!"_

* * *

Kitty turned her attention to Iyasa. The Mngwa was refusing to look at the screen, his hands curling up into fists.

* * *

_The shot was security camera footage once again. Iyasa was pacing back and forth in the kitchen while his mom, Abigail, was sitting down at the table. "I have to do something, Mom," he argued._

"_Iyasa, I know you want to help, but there's only so much you can do," Abigail retorted._

"_It's been a whole week since Kit and Uncle Matthias went missing! We haven't heard anything from that other guy, either. What if Kit's hurt, or worse…" Iyasa shook his head. "No, he couldn't be."_

_Abigail looked at her son, sympathy taking over her face. "Iyasa, he could be… Kitai could have died."_

"_No, no, he couldn't have," Iyasa denied. The two were interrupted by Abigail's phone ringing. She accepted the call and held the phone up to her ear._

"_Kya?" Abigail raised an eyebrow. "Kya, Kya, you need to calm down. I can't understand you." Abigail was silent for a moment._

_Iyasa began to appear nervous. "What's wrong?" Abigail raised a hand up, telling her son to be quiet._

_After a moment, her eyes widened. "Kya, I'm so sorry… Kit's still alive?"_

* * *

Iyasa's claws began to dig into his hands, drawing blood. Kitty could see his jaw clenched. "Iya… Are you okay?" Iyasa shook his head as the final clip began to play. Unlike the other ones, it wasn't a video. Rather, it was an audio recording. The sound of a dial tone filled the air before someone picking up a phone.

* * *

"_Hello, this is Iyasa Rivieras, Former Ultimate Pet Detective," Iyasa greeted. "If your fluffy, feathery, or scaly friend's gone missing, then I'm your guy."_

"_Mr. Rivieras, this is Kazuichi Soda from the Future Foundation," Kazuichi responded._

"_Ah! The Future Foundation! Never expected to get a call from you guys. Need an extra agent or anything?"_

"_Look, I… I don't know how to tell you this, but the Future Foundation recently rescued some people from an island where a killing game was held."_

"_Why am I being called over that? I deal with pets, not people."_

_A sigh from Kazuichi could be heard. "The survivors of the game said that one of the victims was a boy by the name of Kitai Riveros."_

* * *

"Shut up!" Iyasa barked, making the three with him jump in surprise. Tears were pouring from Iyasa's eyes. "Stop playing this! Kit isn't dead! You know he isn't!"

Garnet hesitantly approached the Mngwa, hands up. "Iyasa, you good, mate?"

Iyasa glared up at the ceiling. "You know Kit's not dead! Why would you play that?!"

"_**Ahahaha! Such a shame my little rat couldn't keep himself from squealing.**_" Kitty's eyes widened as she stared at Iyasa. The anger was gone from his eyes and replaced with shock.

"_Iyasa, what does the Beast mean by that?_" Christel questioned. Before the mngwa could say a word, Iyasa was taken away from the group.

"_Did… Did the Beast just call Iyasa his little rat?_" Anthony interjected.

"Why would the Beast do that?" Kitty asked.

"It makes no sense; Iyasa was a mngwa," Percy muttered.

Shinya sighed. Although, Kitty couldn't see him; she could tell that he wasn't frustrated. He sounded disappointed and even upset. "_I don't think the Beast was referring to Iyasa's species… I think he was telling us that Iyasa is a mole._" Everyone was silent.

* * *

**4:13 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 9**

Minemi felt anger course through her veins. She had sensed it. She had sensed that something was off with Iyasa, but she had brushed it off as him just being eccentric. "Damn it."

Yoshi turned her attention to the usually composed girl. "What's wrong, Minemi?"

"That filthy, dirty little rat is what's wrong!" Minemi hissed. "I could tell something was off with him, but I thought it was just his personality! How could I be so blind?!"

"I mean… You're only human, Mimi," Rafaela argued.

"I should've been able to tell!" Minemi retorted. "My intuition and skills are second to none! I was able to guess your name, talent, and nickname without fail, Red! How could I not tell that Iyasa was the mole?!"

Yoshi bit her lip before speaking up. "Maybe you wanted to believe the best in him." Minemi turned her attention to the girl, her gaze sharp. Yoshi squeaked and tensed up. "I just mean that maybe you decided to believe he was just weird because that's better than believing we're all awful people."

Minemi stared at Yoshi for a moment. She then let out a sigh. "I suppose that makes sense." She giggled. "That doesn't mean I'll go any easier on that dirty little rat when we find him."

Yoshi gulped. "What are you going to do to him, Minemi?"

Minemi smiled, although there was something unsettling about it. "Well, Yoshi, let's say that people who've been test subjects for me often wish for death... assuming they don't die."

* * *

**5:06 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 18**

Arachne kept her gaze locked on the ground as the screens played footage of her transformation. She refused to look at them and give a reaction to the painful memories. If she did, she would say something and be separated from Tony and Gilbert. She glanced at the knight as they were walking. She considered how he had acted towards her and Jamie earlier, and how he'd only thought to apologize about how he treated her. It was weird.

Arachne froze when she heard her own screams of pain on the screens. She threw her hands over her ears in a vain attempt to block out the noise. She wanted to beg for it stop, but she had to be strong. She might've been weak during that moment, but she could be strong. She had to be.

The Weaver was pulled out of her own thoughts by a pair of hands gently grasping her wrists and pulling them away from her ears. Anthony stood in front of her with a kind smile. "The video stopped," he stated. "You don't have to worry."

Arachne cracked a smile. "Thank you, Tony." She breathed a heavy sigh. Her nerves were still shot from the whole experience. "Can we… Can we stop for a moment?"

"Are you hurt?" Gilbert inquired.

"No, I just need a moment," Arachne responded. Gilbert nodded, and the group stopped.

Arachne let out a sigh and slumped against the wall. "I hate this. I hate this so much." She dropped her head into her hands. "What did we do to be here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Gilbert replied.

"Whatever the reason, the person behind this won't get away with it," Anthony interjected. "The Future Foundation will make sure to capture them and punish them." A scoff was heard over the line, which made Anthony raise an eyebrow. However, he decided to ignore it.

The three only rested for a moment when they felt the ground shake beneath them. Their eyes widened. They began to move, but it was too late. Cadoc had spotted them. "Come back here!" he bellowed, chasing after the group.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Arachne screeched, running as fast as she could. She yelped when she felt a hand grab onto one of her legs. She clawed at the ground as she was dragged away from Anthony and Gilbert. "AH!"

"Arachne!" Anthony cried. He began to dig through his bag for a weapon while Gilbert doubled back and brandished his sword.

"Run!" Arachne ordered. "Run while you can!"

Anthony shook his head. "We can't!"

Gilbert slashed at Cadoc's arm, causing the Strongman to let out a loud scream and release Arachne. Arachne scuttled away from the man and stood beside Tony. Gilbert then raised his sword to swing at Cadoc once again when the Strongman hit him. The Knight flew straight into the wall.

The Strongman approached Gilbert, a hand over the deep wound on his arm. "You smug bastard," Cadoc heaved. "You thought I'd let a fag who can't even fight with his own hands beat me?!"

Arachne watched in fear as Cadoc wrapped his hands around Gilbert's neck. She couldn't do this. She couldn't let someone die for her. She glanced over at Anthony. "Tony, do you have a weapon?"

The black-haired boy hesitantly pulled a gun out of his bag. "I found this in here." Without saying a word, Arachne swiped the gun from Anthony's hands and fired at Cadoc's head. However, her aim was a bit off.

Cadoc let out a scream as the bullet flew threw his other arm, forcing him to drop Gilbert. The Strongman spun around and glared daggers into Arachne. "You useless whore!" He cursed. "How dare you?!"

"You're the one hunting us!" Arachne fired the gun again, landing a second bullet in his chest.

Cadoc growled and prepared to charge at her, but a sharp pain spread through his chest. He looked down to see a sword had been run through his chest.

Gilbert was quick to pull his sword out and rush away from the Strongman. "We need to go now," he stated. The trio took off running.

"_Tony, wh-what's going on?_" Takeshi asked, worry prevalent in his voice.

"Cadoc found and chased us," Anthony explained. "Long story short, Gilbert cut his arm, Arachne shot him twice, and then Gilbert stabbed him through the chest."

"_Did they manage to kill the brute?_" Christel questioned. When a loud roar filled the hallway, Anthony winced. "_Never mind._"

Arachne spun around and fired again at Cadoc. This bullet lodged itself under his right lung. Cadoc let out another roar of pain. "You fucking slut!" Arachne didn't respond; she simply fired once more. This one landed in the wound Gilbert had made on his arm. "AH!"

"Arachne, keep running!" Gilbert ordered.

The Weaver turned back around, prepared to run, when she felt a hand wrap around her legs. Arachne struggled in Cadoc's grasp as he lifted her off the ground. "Let go of me!" she shouted.

"Shut up, whore!" Cadoc bellowed, his gaze dark.

"Arachne!" Anthony cried out. He took a few steps towards her.

"Tony, run!" Arachne ordered. "Run while you have the chance!"

"We have to listen to her," Gilbert urged.

Anthony spun to face Gilbert, anger apparent in his face. "How can you call yourself a knight? A lady is about to die, and you're saying we should run?!"

Gilbert's expression hardened. "I would never suggest we just abandon a maiden to death without cause," he hissed. "However, we both will die alongside her if we don't run."

Cadoc let out a mirthless chuckle as he stared at the struggling Arachne. "I've always wondered what a spider would do if its legs were torn off one by one." Arachne's eyes widened.

"We need to help her!" Anthony argued.

"No! Listen to Gilbert, Tony!" Arachne cried. She let out a scream of pain as Cadoc began to slowly remove one of her legs from her torso. "Please, stop!" She pointed the gun at his shoulder and pulled the trigger, blowing out a section of his shoulder as he tore out her leg.

"You miserable weakling!" Cadoc screamed, using his free hand to grasp his shoulder. Gilbert grabbed Anthony's arm and began to pull him away, much to Anthony's chagrin.

Arachne smiled at the two before turning her attention to the raging man holding her. "If I'm such a weakling, then why have I been able to hurt you so much?"

"Because you've used a weapon. You wouldn't have hurt me otherwise." Arachne let out a tired chuckle. With another growl, Cadoc wrapped a hand around her throat. "What's so funny, bitch?"

"We're both going to die soon," Arachne muttered. "You're going to kill me, and I'm going to kill you too." Without warning, she bit down into Cadoc's wrist. A clear substance leaked from her teeth into the wound. Cadoc's grasp around her neck tightened as her venom seeped into his wrist. Arachne fell to the ground, two more of her legs being torn out of her body in the process. She slumped against the wall. Blood was pouring from her profusely, and Cadoc's words to her sounded muffled. So this was what dying felt like. She watched as he fell over and began to twitch, her venom taking effect.

Tears pricked Arachne's eyes as a smile broke out across her face. "Mom, Dad, I love you both so much. I'm sorry I'm not coming home, but at least I saved the others." With that, Arachne Weaver, the Ultimate Spider Weaver, was no more.

* * *

**5:15 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 20**

Anthony's lungs burned as he and Gilbert continued to flee, only to stop when they heard a loud thud and felt the ground shake. "Do you… Do you think that was Cadoc?" he asked.

"_I think it was,_" Christel stated.

"You guys felt that too?" Gilbert questioned.

"_I'd be shocked if anyone in a five-mile radius didn't feel that,_" Minemi remarked.

"_Is Miss Arachne alright?_" Jamie asked.

Gilbert and Anthony shared a look before sighing. Anthony glanced down at the phone. "If you couldn't hear, Arachne told us to run while we had the chance. She… She's probably dead." There was a moment of silence.

"I hate to interrupt, but there's a door by us," Gilbert interjected. Anthony perked up and looked in the direction Gilbert was pointing. Sure enough, a door with a blue rose painted on it was standing right in front of them. "It has a blue rose on it."

After hearing some light rustling, Garnet finally spoke up. "_You guys are in Hallway 20. As for the door… Go through it. If Alice's group gets to it, then you guys should be able to reunite and get closer to the stairwell._" Without another word, Gilbert pulled open the door, and the two young men walked inside.

* * *

**6:21 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 15**

"Hey, Gemma, will you be alright if I set you down now?" Alice asked. She waited until she felt Gemma nod before setting the Archer onto her feet. She glanced over at Takeshi, who was still holding Hideki. "I can take him back, if you want."

Takeshi perked up before smiling. "Th-thank you, Alice, but you should rest your arms. You've been carrying G-Gemma for a while now. You only took a break when we ate d-dinner."

"I'm sorry," Gemma muttered.

Alice gently took Gemma's hand in her own and pulled the smaller girl into a side hug. "Don't apologize. You saw footage that would make anyone tear up."

"I doubt Red or Minemi would've cried at hearing their mum call them… a monster," Gemma whimpered out.

"_To be fair, Gemma, Red and Minemi aren't the sanest of us here,_" Shinya argued.

"_Want to repeat that, ya ass-munching cock-biter?_" Rafaela hissed.

Alice sighed and shook her head. She was about ready to tune out the argument when the television screens began to lose their static.

"_Who do you think it's going to be this time?_" Lucille inquired.

"_Please don't be me,_" Tenshi whispered. "_I already know what the Beast will show, and I don't want to see those arguments again._"

* * *

_The shot of a kitchen appeared on the screens. "Hey Alice, the camera's working!" The person manning the camera was Alice's older brother Charlie._

_A sigh from Alice could be heard in the background. "Why are you messing with it, anyways?"_

"_Cause I want to remember this amazing time." He turned the camera around to focus on a dining room. Four children, the oldest looking to be twelve, sat around it, eating breakfast. The children, from oldest to youngest, were Julie, Lexi, Thomas, and Ryder. Standing off to the side of the table was a fourteen-year-old Alice, who was feeding a toddler sitting in a highchair._

_Alice cocked an eyebrow. "We're eating breakfast."_

"_Yeah, but that's not all that could happen." He walked over to the highchair and focused on the toddler. "Sammy here should say his first word any day now."_

_Alice paused before setting the jar of baby food down on the tray. "Charlie, are you reading those parenting blogs again?" When Charlie remained silent, Alice sighed. "I told you those blogs are misinformed. Some children don't speak until they're two or older." She turned her attention back to the little one in front of her. "Besides, what would his first word even be?"_

"_He could say your name, Allie," Lexi stated._

"_He's gonna say my name, dummy," Thomas argued._

"_Hey, Thomas, what have I said about calling your siblings dumb?" Alice interjected with a raised eyebrow._

_Thomas looked away from the Caregiver. "Not to."_

"_That's right, now apologize to Lexi," Alice ordered. The five-year-old muttered a quick apology to Lexi before going back to his breakfast. Alice grabbed the jar of food and gave it a sniff. Her nose wrinkled._

"_Something wrong?" Charlie inquired._

_Alice nodded. "I don't know if the batch of food Mom and Dad got were expired or if they were tampered with, but they all smell like bitter almonds." She smiled down at Sammy. "I'll be back in a moment, Sammy. Be good for your Uncle Charlie." Alice then stepped away._

_Charlie kept the camera on the toddler. "Hey, Sammy, want to say how you're doing?" The toddler stared at the camera for a moment before whimpering. "Oh shit."_

"_Mommy, Uncle Charlie said a no-no word!" Ryder shouted. Charlie sighed._

"_Dollar in the swear jar, Charlie," Alice demanded._

"_Oh shit, Allie, Lexi, Thomas, and I need to leave for school now," Julie stated, getting up from her spot. The other two children rushed out of the room, waving goodbye to Charlie._

"_Julie, what did you just say?" Alice questioned. Julie's eyes widened before she bolted out of the dining room. "Young lady, I swear to God if you said that word!"_

"_She already left, Alice," Charlie stated. The chaos was interrupted by a loud cry from Sammy. Alice ran back into the dining room with a bowl of applesauce in hand and over to the highchair._

"_What's wrong, Sammy?" She cooed. She set the bowl down on the table and gently helped the toddler out of the chair. "What's wrong, sweetie? Why are you crying?" The toddler calmed down instantly and curled a small fist around some of Alice's shirt. Alice smiled. "Aw, did you just miss me?"_

"_Mama," he muttered._

_Alice's eyes widened as she looked at the camera. "Charlie… Did… Did Sammy just call me mama?"_

_Her brother chuckled. "It sure sounded like it."_

_Tears pricked the teen's eyes as a smile broke out across her face. "He called me mama."_

* * *

Tears were streaming down Alice's face as the video finished. Jamie had his eyes on the ground as the group continued walking. She wanted to ask him what was wrong more than anything, but she had to remain silent. The next video began, and Alice felt her heart instantly drop.

* * *

_Alice was pacing around the floor at a hospital. Alice's mother Beth sat in the seat next to Charlie, who was a young man with black hair. "Alice, maybe you should sit down," Beth suggested._

_Alice shook her head. "I can't. What if something's wrong? Babies don't just start throwing up blood." Tears streamed down her face. "This keeps happening. Am I feeding them something bad? Am I letting them outside during poison gas attacks? What am I doing wrong?!" Charlie shot up from his seat and wrapped his sister in a tight hug. "I'm so afraid the other kids are going to die too. I keep losing children. I can't handle losing Sammy too. He's just a baby, Charlie. He's just a baby."_

* * *

Tears continued to stream down Alice's face as the screens turned off, and the urge to break down grew in her. She knew she could speak, but she didn't trust her voice to cooperate with her.

Alice paused when she felt a light tug on her sweater. She glanced down at Jamie. "Miss Alice, are you okay?" The simple question was enough to put Alice at ease. She might have failed in the past, but she didn't have to fail again.

Alice gave the young boy a watery smile. "I'm not, but I will be."

"We can take a break if you want," Gemma offered, a concerned look on her face. She brightened up. "If you need to cry, I could try carrying you."

Alice chuckled and wiped at her eyes. "Thank you for the offer, Gemma, but I should be fine." Takeshi gasped, getting everyone's attention. "Takeshi, what's wrong?"

"N-Nothing," Takeshi said. He pointed ahead. "I see a d-door with a blue rose on it!"

"_That's the room Anthony and Gilbert went into!_" Kitty cheered. The five ran to the door and piled into the room without a second thought.

Upon entering it, the group saw Anthony and Gilbert leaning against the wall. In the center of the room were three stools and a table with a stack of notecards. "Tony!" Takeshi gasped, rushing over to his friend and pulling him into a hug. "I'm so glad that you're okay."

Anthony chuckled, patting his friend on the back. "I'm glad to see you too, Keshi."

"Are you alright, Alice?" Gilbert inquired. "Your eyes are red."

Alice sighed. "The videos playing before we got here were for me… I'd rather not talk about it."

"_**It seems two groups are here for this little game!**_" The Beast cheered. "_**Before I explain the rules, three people need to be sitting in those stools. Since one group only has two people now, the group of five must choose two people.**_"

"I can go," Alice offered.

"Will you be okay?" Gemma inquired.

Alice sighed, nodding. "I should be."

"I can go t-too," Takeshi added. Gemma held her arms out to take Hideki from Takeshi, who passed the toddler over to her. Alice and Takeshi then stepped over to the stools and sat down. Without saying a word, Anthony joined them.

"_**Amazing,**_" the Beast commented. "_**Before you all are a series of questions. These questions will be answered honestly by you three, no matter what.**_"

Anthony raised an eyebrow. "How can you say that? What's to stop us from lying?"

"_**A powerful truth serum is entering the room at this very moment,**_" the Beast claimed. Jamie pursed his lips together. "_**A wonderful fact about truth serum, by the way, is that a main ingredient of it is sodium. If the body is exposed to too much sodium, it shuts down. With the amount in the truth serum, I would say you have… ten minutes before that happens. The only way to leave this room is for someone to get hurt. Good luck.**_"

Anthony let out a mirthless laugh. "We're probably the worst people for this game, aren't we?"

"Everyone in here is bad for this game," Alice argued. With a sigh, she stared at the notecards. "Well, we might as well start." She leaned forward and grabbed a notecard off the top of the stack. "What's your favorite color?" She snickered. "That's a simple question. I was expecting something worse." Alice laughed before pointing at her backpack and headband. "I think it's pretty obvious."

"G-green," Takeshi muttered.

"I don't really have one," Anthony admitted. He breathed a sigh before grabbing another notecard. "What food do you not like?"

"Meat," Takeshi stated.

Alice stared at Medic incredulously. "You're vegetarian?"

Takeshi shrugged. "I just don't like m-meat."

Alice chuckled. "Well, I'm the reverse. I love meat. As for a food I don't like… Aside from bananas, because they could kill me, asparagus."

Anthony sighed. "I'm not picky usually, but I don't like kiwis. The texture's weird."

Takeshi leaned forward to grab a card. "Have you ever taken a life?"

Alice ran a hand through her hair. "Why am I not surprised that that's a question?"

"No, I h-haven't," Takeshi claimed.

Gilbert cocked an eyebrow. "If a truth serum weren't hitting us right now, I'd think you were lying."

Alice and Anthony shared a look before sharing a collective sigh. "You too, huh?" Anthony questioned.

"I didn't want to," Alice muttered. Tears pricked her eyes. "I really didn't want to."

"I didn't either," Anthony added.

"You both have killed people?" Gemma asked, her voice a whisper.

"I did it out of self-defense," Alice claimed.

"I didn't want to die," Anthony whimpered. "I hated it so much." Gemma nodded, her expression softening.

Alice reached forward and grabbed another notecard. "Do you support the Lions?"

"The Lions?" Jamie asked.

"The Western equivalent of the F-Future Foundation," Takeshi explained. "I do."

"So do I," Alice and Anthony responded.

Anthony took a notecard off the top. "What do you think of Iyasa?" He let out a small sigh before looking up at the ceiling. "While I'm certain he has his reasons for being the Beast's mole or rat or whatever, that doesn't change the fact that he was probably given a mission to gain our trust and then hurt us."

"I w-want to hear why he did it before I decide how to feel," Takeshi mumbled.

Alice nodded. "Same here."

Takeshi pulled a card, and he cocked an eyebrow. "This is w-weird."

"What's wrong, Keshi?" Anthony inquired.

"It's just asking if we support the F-Future Foundation," Takeshi confessed. Alice bit her lip and looked away. Gemma began to fiddle with one of the bows from her quiver. Gilbert turned his head away from the three on the stools. Takeshi looked up at the ceiling. "Yes, I d-do."

"I work for them, so yes," Anthony responded. He turned his attention to Alice. "What about you?" When Alice didn't answer right away, Anthony cocked his head to the side, clearly confused. "Alice?"

The Caregiver heaved a heavy sigh. "Listen, Tony, I… It's not so simple."

"You support the Lions, though," Anthony reminded.

"I do, but the Future Foundation has… They haven't done much for the West."

Anthony continued to look confused. "What are talking about? The Future Foundation has helped the West so much. They provided aid to those who were displaced after Las Vegas was nuked."

"Can you name an example before Koichi Kizakura and the clone of Makoto Naegi took over?" Alice asked.

"I didn't exist until then," Anthony argued.

Alice nodded. "Then allow me to fill you in. Before those two took over, the Future Foundation was basically run by a man named Kyosuke Munakata. He kept most, if not all of the resources for the Future Foundation in Japan, China, South Korea, and a few other East Asian countries. If you didn't live there, then you'd be better off trying to deal with Ultimate Despair yourself." Alice scoffed. "That's why the Lions started up in the first place. The Future Foundation tried to spin it to make it seem like they came up with the idea, but they didn't. They only agreed to it because people would've gotten even angrier with them otherwise."

"Do you h-hate us?" Takeshi inquired.

Alice's expression softened. "I don't. You and Tony are working for a company I have personal grief with, but I don't hate you guys by association."

"But if the Foundation's gotten better, then why still hate them?" Anthony questioned.

"Like I said, Tony, it's just a personal grief I have with them," Alice responded. "Please drop it."

"It just makes no sense." The young man let out a sigh. "Yes, the Foundation hid some things about Makoto Naegi and Mukuro Ikusaba, but they've been so helpful otherwise."

Alice sighed once again. A rare look of annoyance appeared on her face. "Tony, drop it. I want to move on."

Anthony, however, ignored her. "Why do you hate the Future Foundation?"

"Because that bastard Munakata told me my daughter's death was my fault!" Alice shouted.

The fire in Anthony's eyes was gone in an instant.

Takeshi looked horrified. "Wh-What?"

Alice took a deep breath. "It was three years ago. My mom was forced to watch one of those despair-brainwashing videos. I was busy taking care of my youngest - Ryder - because he was sick, so I was primarily upstairs that day. While I was taking care of him, she stole the butcher knife I had put in the dishwasher. She then used it to stab my oldest daughter several times in the chest." Tears streamed down Alice's face as varying looks of horror appeared on everyone's faces. Alice grit her teeth at the memory. "I can still hear my daughter's screams as my own mother, someone she loved and trusted, stabbed her over and over again. When I tried to make my mom stop, she just looked at me with this… animalistic look and said, 'You're next.' I… I had to shoot my own mom just to survive."

Alice let out a mirthless, almost mocking laugh. "And of course, because life seemed to hate me, that was the day I learned that my father was a member of Ultimate Despair. He was the one who brainwashed my mom. That was when the Future Foundation finally made a visit to my city! I lived in Houston! We were one of the cities hit hardest by the Tragedy, but it wasn't until an official report of one member of Ultimate Despair being in the city that the Foundation showed up there. And despite me telling him everything, Munakata told me that it was my fault because I didn't notice that my father was Ultimate Despair. He told me it was my fault that my daughter died, and that shooting my own mother was all on me."

Tears streamed down the Caregiver's face, but a smile was on her face. "And I was apparently not the only one he would say this to. If you had a family member who was in Ultimate Despair, and they killed someone you loved, it was your fault. Countless people were told it was their fault right to their faces. The sad thing is that I actually believed him. I believed him so much that I felt like my life was out of control." Alice tugged up her sleeves, revealing fading scars on her wrists. "I wanted to feel control, and this was how I chose to do it."

Alice pulled her sleeves back down and glared at the black-haired boy, who looked absolutely crestfallen. She sighed before wiping at her eyes once again. "This is why I hate the Future Foundation, Tony. Even if it's gotten better, it doesn't change the pain it brought me and so many others." A third door clicked open, and Alice knew why. What she had said hurt. It hurt her to say it, and it no doubt hurt the others to hear it. It didn't change the truth of it any less.

* * *

**21 Survivors Remain**

**4 Limbs Lost**

* * *

**Author's Note: I would first like to give a big, big thanks to Seb and Super for submitting Arachne and Cadoc respectively. I absolutely loved Arachne, and that's why I had her go out in a wave of glory! And Cadoc was such a magnificent bastard that I had to have him be the reason at least one character died. I'm so sorry he wasn't around for as long as expected. Second, I would like to thank the betas who made this less awkward. Third, I'd like to thank Fee5H, who is now a co-contributor of sorts for this story. He'll be helping me make the plot more cohesive. And finally, I would like to thank you all for reading this. We're only six chapters in, but we've already had some fun things revealed about the characters. Things are only going to get worse from here!**


	8. Chapter 7: Phantoms of the Past Part 3

**Chapter 7: Phantoms of the Past Part 3**

**6:31 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 5**

Shinya let out a small sigh. They'd been walking for so long, and they still hadn't come across anything substantial. Not only that, but there was a sense of tension amongst everyone. After Alice and Anthony's groups had left their challenge room, they had explained what had gone on in the room, including what had been revealed. And while Shinya certainly couldn't fault Alice for her reasoning, it seemed that what she had said had left an impact on Takeshi and especially Anthony. Everyone in the maze had been mostly silent since then. Murmurs amongst other groups could be heard, but no one dared to say a word over the phone.

"I'm not too fond of the Foundation, either," Fera admitted. Shinya glanced down at the boy, who tensed up before continuing. "It's just… My country might not have been hit as hard as America or England, but it was still hit. If it weren't for my brother, I would be down in the ground, sleeping with the dead. The Foundation never came, despite constant requests for aid and supplies." He then turned his gaze down to the ground. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Shinya questioned. Fera looked back up with confusion on his face. "Look, Fera, I won't deny that I saw a lot of positive effects from them. I also won't deny that you and everyone else who wasn't in Japan saw a lot of negative effects. Anthony is a clone of some sort, so he only knows the Foundation as it is now. That's why he was so broken up about it."

Fera nodded, then perked up when the static began to die down. "It's happening again."

* * *

_A shot of Shinya standing in a laboratory appeared on the screens. He was working on an experiment. People around him seemed to be doing the same. "Shinya, I'm running low on sulfuric nitrate," one of them admitted. "Could you bring me the container?"_

* * *

Fera heard a sharp intake of air and glanced up at Shinya. For the first time since he had met the boy, he saw fear in the latter's eyes, and that frightened him. Shinya opened his mouth to speak, and Fera slammed his hand over it without thinking. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

* * *

_Shinya reached for the container and passed it over to the woman, but not before accidentally pouring some of the contents onto the table. This included a Petri dish filled with sodium chlorate and sugar. "Shit!" Shinya exclaimed as a fire erupted from the dish. He dropped the container, causing the fire to spread out. Everyone in the lab began to run as the fire grew. As Shinya ran out the door, the fire licked his shirt, setting it ablaze. The teen let out a scream of pain as he stumbled out of the room. What the camera focused on, though, were two people who had been caught by the flames the moment they spread. Their screams filled the air as the footage of them being burnt alive continued to play._

* * *

Shinya fell to his knees and began to shake. Fera's eyes widened at the sight.

"_Lucy!_" Tenshi cried out.

"_What's wrong?_" Alice questioned.

"_Lucy's having a panic attack, I think!_" Tenshi exclaimed.

The Toxicologist's breath was hitching, and his gaze, while fixed on the ground, seemed far off.

"Shinya's having one, as well," Fera said.

"_What could've triggered it?_" Gilbert questioned.

Yoshi gasped. "_When we were playing that question game with the Beast earlier, Minemi was able to guess that Shinya and Lucille had a fear of fire._"

Fera's eyes widened at the memory. He rushed to kneel down beside Shinya, ignoring the conversation between everyone else. He had seen this. He had even experienced this. Fera made sure that, if Shinya were to look up, he could see him. He gently placed a hand on the ground. "May I touch you?"

Shinya shook his head, his breathing becoming more rapid.

For once, Fera knew that he could do this right. "I won't touch you then."

* * *

**6:37 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 6**

For once, Tenshi did not know what to do. She'd never dealt with a panic attack before. "_Tenshi, you need to remain calm,_" Alice ordered. "_Panicking won't make things any easier for you._"

"_Alice is r-right,_" Takeshi argued.

"But I don't know what to do!" Tenshi cried, staring at Lucille with wide eyes. The Racer was practically frozen to the spot where she stood, and her breathing was so erratic. "What do I do?"

"_Tenshi, have you guys just gone straight?_" Garnet questioned.

"The hell kind of a question is that?!" She snapped.

"_If you've just gone straight, then you're in Hallway 6, which puts you and Lucille really near us,_" Kitty stated. "_We can be there in a few minutes!_"

"I don't have a few minutes!" Tenshi argued. "I need to help Lucy now!"

"Mama, Papa," Lucille whimpered, her hands clutching onto the sleeves of her suit.

_Was this how Lucy felt when she saw me?_ Tenshi thought. _What did she do for me?_ The Iaidoka thought back to when Lucille had comforted her and slowly approached the latter. "Lucy… can I… can I touch you?"

When Lucille did not respond, Tenshi decided to push her luck. She grabbed the Racer's right hand and placed it on her chest. Lucille tensed up and whimpered. Tenshi kept her grip, though. "It's me, Lucy. It's me. It's your beauty." Lucille slowly unclenched her body and stared at Tenshi with wide, tear-filled eyes. Tenshi took a deep breath and released it. "Can you copy that, Lucy? Can you copy my breathing?" Lucille gave a shaky nod and did what she asked. Tenshi took another breath, and Lucille did the same. The process repeated until Lucille got relatively calm.

"Ma belle…" Lucille's gaze drifted down to the ground. "Thank you."

"Of course. What kind of girl would I be if I didn't help you out?"

"Tenshi, Lucille!" Kitty shouted, while running up to the girls. Percy and Garnet were right behind her. "Are you two alright?"

"Did you help Lucille out of her panic attack?" Garnet questioned.

Lucille cracked a smirk before wrapping an arm around Tenshi's waist and pulling the smaller girl towards her. "Ma belle managed to do that and more for me."

The trio watched Lucille plant a kiss against Tenshi's lips, making the Iaidoka beam. She then pulled back and looked at the group. "So, which way to the staircase?" Lucille inquired.

Kitty perked up and stared down at the map in Garnet's hands. "If we go straight and then take a right at the first chance we get, then we should be at the stairs in no time flat!"

"Then we have no time to waste!" Tenshi stated. "And with me leading us, we'll be there in no time!" With that, the Iaidoka began to walk down the hallway.

Lucille chuckled. "Ma belle, we should be completely fine. At the very least, I get to see a beautiful girl." Kitty jokingly rolled her eyes as the group continued along.

Percy snickered. "Hope I can get a relationship as dynamite as this one!"

Garnet let out a small groan. "That was such an awful pun, mate! It was so awful it wasn't even a pun." The other four in the group couldn't help but laugh at Garnet's reaction.

* * *

**9:04 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 6**

"It feels like forever since the Beast has played something for us," Garnet muttered.

"You're saying that like it's a bad thing," Percy argued. "Honestly, I'm fine if the Beast is done playing those stupid videos for the day."

"Don't say that," Tenshi hissed. "You might jinx us."

"Tenshi's right," Kitty added. "Who knows what he might show next?"

"_Miss Alice, I'm tired,_" Jamie whined, his complaint being heard over the phone.

"_I'm getting pretty beat, myself,_" Tobi admitted. Various other members of the groups mumbled about being tired as well.

Garnet glanced down at the map before going over to Kitty. "Hey, guys, can you all tell any markers near you at the moment? Depending on where everyone is, we might be able to meet up tomorrow morning." He scanned the map as he heard the various flowers on doors that people were near. He needed to find somewhere to meet up. He was starting to feel the day's activities hit him like a bag of bricks, and he needed sleep.

A smile made its way across his lips when he saw a meet-up spot that all of them could get to. "Guys, we're all close to a door with a black flower on it. Some of us are closer than others, but we're all on route to it!" He chuckled. "That's not the best part, though!"

"_Well, don't leave us in the dark,_" Minemi teased.

"It's right by the staircase," Kitty interrupted, having been looking over Garnet's shoulder.

"_**So glad to see all of you will reunite so soon,**_" the Beast interjected.

"God damn it, why?!" Tenshi hissed. "I am getting so tired of hearing your stupid-ass voice!"

"_**I could say the same to you, Tenshi,**_" the Beast retorted.

"_Well isn't that a mature retort?_" Minemi taunted. "_What next? Are you going to call Tenshi a meanie? Tehehe!_"

Almost as if responding to Minemi, the screens began to lose their static.

"_Mimi, I think you pissed the truck-fucker off,_" Rafaela stated.

Minemi scoffed. "_Oh please, there's nothing he could show me that could make me upset. Not in the way he wants._"

* * *

_A twelve-year-old Minemi was glaring daggers into the two adults sitting across her at the table. One of them, a woman, asked, "Minemi, why are you asking us these questions?"_

_Minemi crossed her arms over her chest and responded, "Why won't you answer them? They're simple enough to answer… Why do we have these cameras? We're in a good neighborhood. We don't need them, much less an entire camera feed. Who were all of those people I saw in that room by mine? Why do you two have absolutely no photos of our supposed vacations when all I can ever remember about them is falling asleep before we got there and waking up on the drive home?" The two adults became visibly nervous, flinching when a vase was flung across the room by seemingly no one. It smashed against the wall. "Answer me!"_

"_That's enough!" A man barked. A man and woman, who looked similar to Minemi, stepped into the room with frustrated looks on their faces. "Hiro, Mayaka, you're both dismissed for now." The two sitting across from Minemi rushed out of the room without another word._

_Minemi kept her gaze on the table while the couple moved to take Hiro and Mayaka's places. "Do you know how much work has gone down the drain because you pulled that?" The man questioned._

"_Why should I care?" Minemi hissed. Her eyes were locked on the table. "As far as I know, you two are random strangers that have been performing an experiment on me for my whole life." Minemi cracked a wry smile. "It's impressive. You gave me a fake home, fake parents, fake friends, even a fake bully… For what, though?"_

_The woman sighed. "We might as well tell her."_

"_Yayoi, you can't be serious," the man argued._

"_She's not going to remember any of this, anyway," Yayoi retorted._

"_I'm sitting right here," Minemi reminded. She looked at the two people sitting across from her, an amused expression on her face. "Yayoi Gojou, maiden name Adachi. The one who's been handling the logistics of this little experiment of yours, and the one who gave birth to me." Minemi's eyes flickered over to the man. "Jomei Gojou, the lead scientist of this little test on me… The one who fucked her for some reason." When the man shifted in place, Minemi raised an eyebrow._

"_Oh, you didn't fuck her? You wanted this project to be so streamlined that you had a test tube baby?" Another shift, this time from Yayoi. "So, I have siblings just in case something happened to me?" When the two remained silent and still, Minemi giggled. "I'm that replaceable, aren't I?"_

"_You aren't replaceable," Jomei argued._

_Minemi raised an eyebrow. "There's no need to lie to me, Jomei. If I'm supposedly not going to remember any of this, we might as well be honest with one another."_

"_I'm your father, and you'll address me with respect," Jomei ordered._

_Minemi stared at him for a moment before breaking out into laughter. "Oh, Christ, that's rich! You think you have any authority in my life? How dumb are you?!"_

_Minemi raised a finger, pausing in her laughter. "Scratch that question. Your test subject found out about your little… psychic experiment…" When neither attempted to correct, Minemi continued, "and you both presented yourselves to me. So clearly, you're both a lot dumber than you look."_

_Yayoi smirked. "Who says you're going to remember any of this, dear?"_

_Minemi cocked an eyebrow, smiling once again. "Did you forget what I am, Yayoi?" The girl stood up and glared up at the camera recording everything. In an instant, something was thrown at it, breaking it. However, the sound was still recording._

"_What are you doing?" Jomei questioned, fear evident in his voice. A scream of pain quickly followed._

"_Since I can't destroy your reality like you destroyed mine, I can at least make you feel the pain of it!" Minemi shouted. Yayoi's screams filled soon after._

* * *

**9:15 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 9**

Yoshi watched as Minemi's eye twitched, staring at the screens with utter contempt. The static returned, leaving everyone in shock. "Minemi," Yoshi muttered. The silver-haired girl shook her head and stormed off. "Minemi, wait!"

"What?!" Minemi snapped, spinning around to face her group members. "I don't need to hear your sympathies or your horrified responses! I didn't even murder them! Isn't that what you want from all of us?!"

Yoshi wilted. "That wasn't… I wasn't going to…" Tears filled the actress's eyes.

"Save those tears for the next crying scene you have to do!" Minemi taunted.

"Hey, Mimi, knock it off," Rafaela interjected. "Yoshi's just wanting to make sure you're alright."

Minemi wheeled her attention back to the Cyberpunk. "Will you stop calling me that stupid-ass nickname?!"

"_**Oh, is it because your fake crush would call you that?**_" The Beast inquired. Minemi's eyes narrowed on the phone. Before Yoshi could react, the phone was pulled out of her grasp by a random force and thrown at the wall. It broke into a thousand bits.

Yoshi stared at the wall with wide eyes. "No…"

"What the fucking hell, Minemi?!" Rafaela exclaimed. "That was our only way to talk to the others! Garnet didn't even tell where the door was!"

"He didn't have to; we're going to keep going down this hallway until we reach the door!" Minemi shouted. "Did you not realize it from the footage?! I can do what I want all because my parents experimented on me!"

"You aren't the only one with shitty-ass parents, Mimi!" Rafaela argued.

Minemi's eyes narrowed. "Just because Alice's father was an Ultimate Despair doesn't make my parents' actions any better, Rafaela!" The Parapsychologist felt a sharp stinging sensation on her cheek not a second later.

"Don't ever call me that fucking-shit-ass name ever," Rafaela ordered, her voice low. "And I was talking about me, you silver-haired cunt. If you're so smart and so good at reading people and minds, then fucking read me."

Minemi stared at the Cyberpunk for a moment before her gaze softened considerably. "Red… I… I'm sorry."

"You know how you said you didn't want sympathy for that shit?" Rafaela's gaze shifted off to the side. "Well, I don't want any of that dog-shit either."

Yoshi whimpered. "What are we going to do?"

Minemi sighed and fixed her hair. "Well, considering I just forced us off that call, and several people were already complaining about being tired, I suppose we should go ahead and stop for the day. We can get moving once we wake up."

Yoshi nodded, before staring at the two girls with her warily. Just what had Minemi seen from Rafaela's past to make her calm down so quickly?

* * *

**10:42 P.M. Day 1**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 10**

Christel let out a sigh as she stared over Yui and Tobi's sleeping forms. After Minemi had seemed to do something to her phone, everyone else had agreed to stop for the night. When the topic of night guards had been brought up, Christel had been the first to offer for her group. Yui, while mature, was still twelve and needed her rest. As for Tobi… she did not trust that man to watch over her while she was sleeping. She knew she'd have to switch out with him eventually, but she would gladly take the first shift.

However, being the night guard in a group of three meant she was awake with no one to talk to. She reached for the phone and pressed on the phone numbers before starting a call. She waited for a moment until she saw a few people had accepted it. "_Hey, Christel,_" Alice greeted. "_Is everything alright?_"

"I'm just bored and need someone to talk to," Christel admitted.

"_There's no harm in that,_" Percy argued.

"_Your group put you on guard duty?_" Shinya questioned.

"_He's not alone,_" Lucille argued. "_Although, I might turn in soon. I just… I couldn't sleep right away._"

"_Why not?_" Gilbert inquired.

"_The footage the Beast played for Shinya…_" Lucille muttered. "_Can we not talk about it?_"

"_Of course,_" Alice responded. There was a moment of silence amongst the groups.

"_Do you think Minemi killed her parents?_" Percy questioned.

Alice scoffed. "_Considering what they did to her, I'd hardly call them parents._"

"_I don't think she did,_" Gilbert answered. "_Although, she probably hurt them in some way._"

"Before anyone starts, can we not get philosophical?" Christel requested. "I'm too tired to debate whether she was right or not to hurt her parents."

"_That's incredibly fair,_" Alice muttered. A sigh could be heard. "_I think I need to apologize to Tony and Takeshi when they wake up._"

"_Why?_" Shinya inquired. "_You were being honest with them._"

"_I didn't have to dump all of my trauma on them, though,_" Alice responded. "_They didn't deserve that. I should've kept my cool._"

"_Mon ami, you shouldn't worry about that,_" Lucille argued. "_You can apologize if you want, but you aren't obligated to._"

Alice sighed. "_I know… Doesn't make me feel any less crappy about it?_"

Christel chuckled, a smirk making its way across her face. "Did I just hear you swear, Alice?"

"_Crap is hardly a swear,_" Alice retorted.

"_Yeah, but you still swore,_" Percy teased. "_You've had really clean language since we woke up!_"

Alice chuckled. "_Well, I'm not much of a curser in the first place. Even if I was, I don't want to swear around children._"

"_Would Gemma count as one?_" Gilbert questioned.

Christel cocked an eyebrow. "Gemma's sixteen. I'm pretty certain she's not a kid, Gilbert."

"_Well, Alice has been treating her like a child, so I had to ask,_" Gilbert claimed.

"_Wow, dude, that's rude,_" Percy argued.

Alice sighed. "_He's not wrong, though. I haven't meant to, but I can see why some of my interactions with her have made you think otherwise, Gilbert. If I'm being honest, it's because I feel a connection with her._"

"_What?_" Lucille asked.

"_When I first saw Gemma, I felt some sort of connection to her. And when I feel a connection to someone, I naturally become protective of them. It was the same when I saw Jamie and Hideki. I felt a connection to them. However… the one I feel with Gemma is different. I guess being around both of them unknowingly influenced me to act in the way that I have._" Christel could hear the light rustling of someone moving around in their sleeping bag. "_Now that I know I've been treating her that way, I'll try and hold back. I don't want to make her uncomfortable._" The Caregiver let out a small yawn. "_Gilbert, is it alright if I turn in for the night? You can wake me when my shift officially begins._"

"_Of course,_" Gilbert responded. After a few moments of silence, one of the numbers on the screen disappeared.

"_And then there were four,_" Percy commented.

"_It's about to become three,_" Shinya admitted. "_Fera's stirring around, and I don't want to wake him until it's time for his shift. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow._" With that, another number disappeared.

"Well, Percy, Lucille, looks like it's just us three," Christel stated.

"_Lucille fell asleep,_" Percy admitted. "_If you don't want to talk to just me, I'll understand._"

Christel chuckled. "Of course, I want to talk to you."

"_I'm awake, Percy_. _I just rested my eyes for a moment._"

There was a moment of silence between the three before Percy let out a tired sigh. "_I'm so glad the Beast didn't play anything for me. I know what he'd play if he had footage._"

"Is it too much to ask what it is?"

"…_I burned down someone's house with my fireworks,_" Percy confessed. "_I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt. I was just mad that he ruined my display, and I wasn't thinking. I didn't even kill anyone._"

Christel's eyes widened. "Percy, Percy, calm down. It's okay."

"_Take deep breaths,_" Lucille ordered. "_Neither of us are mad or upset._"

"_But I'm upset with myself!_" Percy cried. He paused for a moment before letting out a shaky breath. "_I just wanted to prank him back._"

"Maybe… How about this; when we get out of here, you create a formal apology to him and his family. Maybe use some of your fireworks' funds or whatever you do to make them to pay them back for the damages you made against them. It might not be enough for them, but it's a start." There was a moment of silence. Christel heard a bit of shuffling on the other end before it suddenly stopped.

"_Percy, did you hear something?_" Lucille inquired.

"_Heard what?_"

"_...How about you turn in for the night?_" she suggested. "_I can handle the rest of the shift. I'll wake you up in a few hours, okay?_"

"_Oh, okay._"

Christel heard the rustling of the sleeping bag. "Well Lucille," she said, "looks like it's just you and me now." While stretching to relax, the petite girl heard a gasp on the other line before it went dead. "I guess she decided to hang up before she woke someone up too." She leaned her back against the wall and went back to sitting in silence.

* * *

**7:30 A.M. Day 2**

**Floor 4**

**Hallway 6**

When Percy woke up, he let out a loud yawn and rubbed at his eyes. He ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to comb it and slid his sombrero back on before grabbing the phone, which laid by Kitty. His eyes widened when he saw the time. "Shit! I missed my shift!" He rushed over to Lucille's sleeping bag, only to see it completely empty. A sinking feeling instantly hit him, so he stepped over to Garnet's sleeping bag and shook him awake.

He wearily blinked up at him. "Percy, what's wrong?" The Fireworks Specialist bit his lip before pointing over at Lucille's sleeping bag. Garnet sat up and stared at it with wide eyes. "That's… really not good."

"Get the others up," Percy ordered. He rushed to roll up his sleeping bag and shove it back into its bag. "Whoever made these things should get burned by a firecracker!"

"I think we have bigger things to worry about," Garnet argued, while shaking Kitty and Tenshi awake.

"Get your hands off of me!" Tenshi hissed. "Why are we waking up so early?"

"Lucille's not in her sleeping bag, and she never woke me up for my shift," Percy explained. Tenshi's eyes widened in horror at the implication of Percy's words. "We need to move now."

Kitty whimpered. "Do you think she's okay?" Percy remained silent, uncertain of how to respond. Kitty started up a phone call.

"_Good m-morning, everyone,_" Takeshi greeted.

"_Is everything okay for you guys?_" Anthony questioned.

"Lucy's not with us," Tenshi admitted. "God damn, these sleeping bags are annoying!"

"_Just leave it,_" Yui suggested. "_They're big enough to fit two of us. So long as half of us have a bag, we should be fine._" Tenshi stared down at it before nodding. She then took off.

"Tenshi, wait!" Kitty shouted, running after the Iaidoka. Tenshi sprinted down the long hallway before coming to a stop in front of the door. Her wide eyes stared at what she saw.

Lucille Du Monde, the Ultimate Formula-1 Racer, was slumped against the door. Blood stained the front of her jacket. On her throat was a deep gash.

Tenshi felt a lump form in her throat, and the only way she could let it out was by screaming. She stumbled away from the door and into someone. She jolted up and spun around, only to be faced with Iyasa. "Tenshi, what's wrong?"

"Get away from me!" Tenshi ordered, pulling her sword on the Mngwa. Her eyes flickered over to Lucille before back to Iyasa. "You did this, didn't you?!" Iyasa cocked an eyebrow before glancing over at Lucille. His eyes widened in response.

"Oh my God!" Yoshi screamed. She reached the door along with her group.

"So Lucille really did die," Gilbert muttered.

Alice refused to look at the body, opting to shield Jamie and Hideki's eyes from the sight. She kept Hideki's face in the crook of her neck while she stood in front of Jamie. Gemma hid her face in her hands, with only small sobs escaping.

Christel stared at the teen's corpse before glancing over at Iyasa. "Iya… did you do this?"

The Mngwa shook his head. "No, Christel, I swear I didn't. I didn't even know where you guys were."

"That's bullshit!" Tenshi shouted. She glared daggers into the man. "You're the only one who could've killed Lucy! You killed her!"

Tobi chuckled. "I've never dissected a mngwa before. I wonder how different their organs are from ours."

Iyasa raised his hands up in defense. "Look, I might have been separated from you guys, but I didn't murder Lucille. I swear."

"No offense, Iyasa, but why should we believe you?" Shinya questioned, after he and Fera joined the rest. "You are the Beast's mole."

Fera stared at Lucille's corpse for a moment before bowing his head and muttering a small prayer.

Iyasa muttered, "I only did that to save my cousin. The Beast said he knew where Kitai was."

"Didn't you hear the clip?" Tenshi snapped. "Your cousin is dead!"

Iyasa bared his teeth. "It was a lie! They never gave my aunt a body! Just a lousy phone call!"

"Iyasa, please," Christel muttered. "Stop lying to us." Iyasa stared at his friend, looking somewhat betrayed.

Tobi sighed. "This is all fine and good; but if I'm not dissecting Mittens here, then can we get into that room, so we do the damn challenge and get to the next floor?" When no one responded, he rolled his eyes. "Fine! Make the cripple do all the work!" Tobi then hopped over to the door and moved Lucille's corpse aside, ignoring the whimper from Tenshi. He pulled the door open and motioned for someone to walk inside.

Minemi gave a harsh glare to the Mngwa as she brushed past him. "As soon as we're done with this, we can send furball here to whatever execution the Beast has planned for him." With that, everyone filed into the room, Iyasa being the last to enter.

Upon entering, everyone was greeted by at least fifty or so porcelain dolls with glass eyes. They all lined the walls. If the sight of them weren't unsettling enough, it felt like the group was being watched by them as they moved throughout the room.

"_**And it seems everyone… everyone who's alive, that is, has made it to the Black Dahlia Room**_," the Beast announced. "_**What do you all think of the decorations?**_"

"I hate everything about this," Alice stated.

"Same here," Kitty added.

"_**Perfect!**_" The Beast exclaimed. "_**The rules for this room are simple. All of these dolls have a symbol painted on their feet. Seven of these symbols, though, will give you the code to leave the room. Since I'm feeling so generous, I think I'll give you two attempts at guessing the correct code.**_"

"Gee, how lucky are we?" Minemi remarked.

"_**If you manage to get both attempts wrong, or you aren't out of this room in seven minutes, then you'll be met with an… interesting surprise, to say the least,**_" the Beast explained. After that, all the phones went silent.

The timer above the second door in the room began to count down. Everyone rushed around, scanning the dolls for some sort of clue. However, they paused when Iyasa shouted, "Kit!" They looked over at the Mngwa, who was holding a doll version of his cousin in his arms. A crazed look overtook the Mngwa's face as he held the doll tight. "I was so afraid you were hurt!"

Alice's gaze softened as she looked at the older man. She turned her attention away from the dolls and approached him. "Iyasa?" The Mngwa spun around to face her, snarling. She took a step back and forced a smile on her face. "I just wanted to ask if I could… meet your cousin."

Iyasa brightened up, though his eyes still maintained a crazed look to them. "Oh yeah, how rude of me." He turned the doll around. "This is my cousin, Kitai." Alice nodded, glancing back at the rest of the group and motioning for them to keep searching while she kept Iyasa calm.

Shinya looked around at the other dolls. His gaze stopped on a doll that looked awfully similar to Anthony, except it was wearing a black hoodie. He then looked around and saw a doll of a girl with brown shoulder-length hair and a light blue skirt that stopped at its shins. "Guys!" Shinya called out. "I may have an idea."

Minemi hummed. "You noticed it too, huh?" She motioned around the room. "All of these dolls are of people from Killing Games that were broadcasted." She scanned the dolls again, and her eyes landed on one that had Kitsune ears and a tail. Another doll had blue skin and looked like a genie. "Well, some of these aren't from broadcasted games." One look at the doll in Iyasa's arm showed that it had gills painted onto it. "Even the doll of Iyasa's cousin has a fantastical element to it. We can assume those are from whatever killing game he was a part of."

"That doesn't change the fact there are too many fucking dolls in this dumpster-shitting room!" Rafaela exclaimed.

"Is the code from the dolls that were masterminds, then?" Jamie froze up when everyone's attention landed on him.

"That was what I was going to suggest," Shinya and Minemi muttered. Everyone began to search through the room.

"I found Makoto Naegi!" Gemma shouted as she plucked the doll off the wall.

"At least someone has," Percy commented, earning a chuckle from some of the group.

"Who's this girl with the Frankenstein's wife hair?" Christel questioned, holding the doll up for everyone to see.

"I'd assume maybe one of the Masterminds," Gilbert responded. "Probably from Kitai's killing game."

"What did you say, Gilbert?" Iyasa inquired, looking over Alice to stare at the Knight. "It sounded like you said Kitai was in a killing game, which is silly because he's right here and he's fine."

"Of course, he is," Alice interjected. She gently placed her hands on the mngwa's arms. "Kitai is right here."

She glanced back at the group and gave them a look that said, "Go along with this, damn it!"

Everyone nodded and returned to their task. Once seven dolls, six of whom they could recognize as masterminds and one they were uncertain of, they gave them a onceover. "So… what order do they belong in?" Fera queried.

Yoshi stared at them, still feeling creeped out by the dolls. "Well, if the key is in the order that they were Masterminds, then that would be Makoto Naegi, Hiyoko Saionji, Dylan Ruf… Dylan, Yukiko Fukunaga, Dolly Dewitt, that random chick, and Junko Enoshima."

"Why's Junko last?" Tenshi asked. "Wouldn't she be before Makoto since she started that game?"

"She technically did, but she was ultimately the Mastermind of the train killing game," Minemi argued.

Anthony sighed, running a hand through his hair. "For now, that's the best we've got." He stepped over to the keypad on the door before looking back at the group. "Can someone read off the symbols on the dolls?"

After a moment of silence, Takeshi spoke up. "The order is an eye, a vacuum, a spear, a spaceship, a p-puppet, a baby, and a bat." Anthony quickly punched in the symbols. A smile broke out across his face as the door unlocked and swung open.

"It worked!" Kitty cheered.

"Let's get moving!" Rafaela ordered, rushing to leave the room.

The Beast's laughter filled the room once again. "_**In order to leave, all dolls must be left inside the room.**_" And just like that, everyone's attention returned to Iyasa.

"What?" He asked. "Why are you all looking at me like that? I'm holding my cousin. He's leaving with us."

Garnet sighed, stepping towards Iyasa. "Mate, you have to put the doll down. Otherwise, we're going to have to leave you."

"Don't call Kitai a doll!" Iyasa barked. He clutched doll close to his chest. "He's coming with us, whether you like it or not!" The crazed look in his eyes began to grow. "You just want to separate us again, don't you? You're all with Despair, and you want Kitai to stay away from me forever!" He glared at everyone as he reached into his coat. "Well, I won't let you!" Everyone stared in horror as Iyasa brandished a longboard sword.

"Where in the fucking hell did he get that?!" Rafaela exclaimed.

"Everyone, go now!" Gilbert barked, before pulling his sword from its sheath. "I'll hold him off."

"Mr. Iyasa, please!" Jamie pleaded, while stumbling away.

The Mngwa didn't listen. He stalked closer towards him.

Tenshi rushed in front of the child and pointed her katana right at Iyasa. "Stay away from him, you fluffy bastard!"

Iyasa scoffed. "Why should I be afraid of a little boy who's never even drawn blood?"

Tenshi's grip around the handle of her katana tightened, and her gaze dropped to the ground.

"I… am… a… girl!" She snapped her head up to glare at the man and prepared for attack. With the hilt of her katana between her index and middle finger, she swung at Iyasa, causing the blade to cut off some of his fur. Gilbert then swung from behind, clipping a portion of his tail. "This is what you get for killing Lucy!" Tenshi screamed.

Iyasa let out a loud cry of pain, but he did not stop. He swung blindly at the two, hoping to hit one of them eventually. Tenshi slid her blade back into its sheath before launching it hilt-first at Iyasa's eyes. Right before it could make contact, the girl grabbed it mid-air and swung the blade downward in a crescent arc. This attack managed to draw blood from Iyasa.

"Miss Tenshi!" Jamie cried. "Please, hurry! There's not much time left before the door locks!"

Tenshi gave a nod, but she couldn't stop her attack. Not while the enemy was still standing. She bit her lip before narrowing her eyes at Iyasa, who was now solely fighting Gilbert. She sheathed her katana one last time and put her left foot forward. She waited for Iyasa to get just close enough before setting the move into motion. While quickly rushing towards the young man, she drew the blade upward in a reverse grip while holding her sheath back with her left hand. This resulted in the blade swiping clean across Iyasa's chest, deepening the cut initially left by the Iaidoka. However, Tenshi felt a piercing pain across her stomach as she finished her move. She glanced down, and her eyes widened. Iyasa had managed to get a deep cut across it.

Tenshi spun around, ready to run out of the room, when a loud buzzer filled the air and the door slammed shut. Rafaela slammed her body against the door. "Let me in, damn it! I was a piece of cat shit to her, but I didn't mean it! She doesn't deserve to die!"

A nearby screen showed the group of now seventeen what was happening in the room. Iyasa was lying on his back, bleeding from his wounds, while Tenshi stared at the door with wide eyes. "I'm going to die here," she whimpered. "I'm actually going to die here."

Iyasa let out a pitiful groan. "Why…Why did you give me back my cousin only to kill me? Why?"

Gilbert glanced around the room. "What even is our punishment? The Beast said something interesting would happen." The moment the question left his mouth, every single doll head snapped over to look at the three remaining.

One by one, the dolls began to creep their way down the wall and over to the three. Tenshi panicked and rushed over to the door, beginning to bang on it. Rafaela did everything she could to make it move even the slightest, but it didn't work. The dolls crawled on top of Iyasa, practically covering him, while others jumped onto Gilbert's and Tenshi's backs. Tenshi screamed and tried to remove them from her, but to no avail. The dolls began to completely cover Tenshi and Gilbert as well. They scratched and tore at the three, all of them screaming in pain. It wasn't until the dolls dispersed that everyone could see their fates.

Iyasa Rivieras, the Former Ultimate Mngwa, and Tenshi Tsuchiya, the Ultimate Iaidoka, laid on the ground; Gilbert Robbins, the Ultimate Knight, was slumped against the wall, with his head pointing towards the ground. All three of them had their skin completely scratched up and clothes torn at various parts.

Christel attempted to hide her tears for her fallen friend; they could tell what became of them from the buttons sewn onto their eyes. Rafaela stared in shock, the feeling of failure overcoming her. In the span of less than an hour, the group had lost four of its members, and the feeling of despair could be felt by everyone in the group.

* * *

**17 Survivors Remain**

**4 Limbs Lost**

* * *

**Author's Note: So...this is obviously different from the first author's note because I rewrote this chapter. I swear to God, this will be the only time I do this, but allow me to explain my reasoning. I did not do this because I was being pressured to or because I like Percy over Lucille. I did this because I plain and simple fucked up when I wrote and posted this chapter in its original form.**

**I had initially planned for Lucille to be the victim as Cel had picked her first. This worked well with my notes as I didn't have much planned for Lucille, and I could very easily replace her in what I did have planned. Then Dash's character Lucy was killed in Oasis. I felt awful that I would be killing another character of his, and I let my emotions take control and I had Cel pick another character. This led to Percy being selected and killed last chapter. However, unlike Lucille, I did have Percy in my notes a lot more, and in scenarios where I couldn't replace him as easily. This is why y'all are getting a rewrite of chapter 7, rather than chapter 8. I'd been struggling so hard to work with the scenario I had put myself in that I couldn't write.**

**So, here we are. From now on, I will not be letting my emotions get in the way of my plans. I have them for a reason. I do have something planned later down the line for this story where another death will be left to chance, but I have planned that one far, far better than this whole mess. The only characters that are options either don't have much planned for them, similar to Lucille, or they don't have any plans for them.**

** I already apologized to Dash, but I would like to go ahead and apologize again. I would also like to apologize to JCW18 for rashly and stupidly killing off your character when I should've stuck to my plans in the first place. I would finally like to apologize to everyone else who might hold issue with this change. I just couldn't write chapter 8 with Lucille, and this was the best way for me to fix my fuck up. So...I hope you all can understand, and I hope you all continue to read.**


	9. Chapter 8: Guts and Bolts

**Chapter 8: Guts and Bolts**

**8:02 A.M. Day 2**

**Floor 4**

**Stairwell 1**

Even after the camera feed cut out, everyone was still in shock at what they had witnessed. Fera, once again, had his head bowed in prayer. Alice was stuck staring at the screen, forcing herself to take deep breaths as she and Gemma comforted Hideki and Jamie. The Archer herself was barely holding back tears. Rafaela's eyes were averted from the screen, though her right fist curled up and turned red. Minemi stared at it with wide eyes, the grip on her parasol tight. Shinya leaned against the wall for support as he took deep breaths. Yoshi was holding herself back from being sick. Anthony kept a comforting arm around Takeshi, while both of them had their heads turned away. Kitty and Percy couldn't bear to look at the screen.

It took a moment, but Rafaela was the first to speak. She drew in a sharp breath before looking back at the rest of the group. "We… We need to get moving."

Percy took a shaky breath before nodding. "We need to get away from here. We still have three more floors to get through."

Everyone seemed to agree, except for Fera. He looked apprehensive, and almost afraid, which did not go unnoticed by the others.

Shinya put a hand on his shoulder. "Everything okay?"

The boy bit his lip and glanced at the phones, before looking back at the door. "Don't you guys think we should wait for the Beast to talk to us?"

Minemi cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

After a moment of silence, Fera shook his head. "I'm overthinking things."

"If there are no further problems, then I say we get moving," Minemi suggested. With that, the small group began their trek up the stairs.

However, Fera still seemed very nervous.

* * *

**8:10 A.M. Day 2**

**Floor 3**

**Hallway 4**

Tobi felt himself growing slightly weary. Not because he was suspicious, but because he was exhausted. He had been keeping Henry in tight for a while, but now he was trying to get out. "_Henry, let me stay in control! You couldn't handle the situation, and now I'm here! Deal with it!"_

"_I didn't know you existed until yesterday_," Henry argued. "_Let me back out!_" Tobi let out a small, almost inaudible growl.

"Mr. Tobi?" Jamie asked.

The Organ Harvester glanced down at him. He was nice enough, and it wasn't like Tobi would go after a child. He had some standards.

"What is it, kid?"

Jamie glanced up at the man for a moment. "Why do you wear that mask?"

"Why not?" Tobi responded. "It's fun, and it hides my face."

"But why would you want to hide your face?"

Tobi chuckled. "What is this, twenty questions?" Jamie seemed to wilt at the response, making Tobi feel a bit bad. "Hey, I didn't mean it like that. I was just messing with ya."

Jamie shrugged his shoulders. "It's okay, Mr. Tobi. I know I shouldn't bother adults too much." Tobi cocked an eyebrow. His mask kept the child from seeing the action, though. The sentence sat wrong with the Harvester. Jamie cocked his head to side. "Mr. Tobi, are you okay?"

The Harvester glanced down at the kid. His eyes were bright with concern. "Yeah… Are you okay, Jamie?" If Jamie's wide eyes didn't break Tobi's heart, then it was the fact that he seemed taken aback.

However, Jamie managed to smile and say, "Yep, I'm fine!" He then walked over to Alice and Gemma's side, leaving behind a confused and unconvinced Tobi.

The group slowly came to a halt as they approached a fork in the path. Minemi let out a small sigh. "Well… this leaves us in an interesting predicament."

"How do we decide who goes d-down which path?" Takeshi questioned.

Anthony cupped his chin in his hand, deep in thought for a moment before suggesting, "Maybe we could ask for a map?"

Shinya scoffed. "Knowing the Beast, we'd probably have to do another game to get one."

"And that game could make one of us die again," Minemi added.

"Assuming another one of us doesn't commit a murder," Yui said.

Alice raised an eyebrow, which did not go unnoticed by Gemma. "Is everything alright, Alice?"

Everyone turned their attention to the Caregiver, who now appeared to be deep in thought. "It just hit me that we never had a trial for Lucille. The Beast said that if one of us committed a murder and the body was found, then we would have a trial."

"Well, we went immediately into a challenge room," Yoshi argued.

Minemi frowned. "No, Alice is right. We should've had some sort of trial for Lucille. Even if it was obvious that Iyasa…" Her eyes widened as everything came crashing down on her. "No… No! How could I be wrong about him twice?!"

Rafaela approached the smaller girl. "Mimi, what's wrong?"

Minemi shook her head. "The Beast specifically said that a trial would happen if one of us committed a murder and the rest found the body. We found Lucille's corpse, but we didn't have a trial."

Anthony's eyes widened. "Then that would mean Iyasa wasn't her murderer." Silence overtook the group as the truth hit them all.

Kitty bit her lip before shaking her head. "No way. There's no way he wasn't the culprit! We all saw how off the rails he was!"

"Being outed as the mole, being accused of murder by everyone, including his friend, and then being faced with a replica of his cousin could have contributed to his mental breakdown," Minemi retorted with a disappointed stare.

Christel shook her head. "No, Kitty has to be right. He had to have killed Lucille."

Shinya sighed. "Lucille was killed by someone other than us, which means we have another person in the maze with us. And considering Cadoc's dead, we don't know who this person might be." He gave the Conductor and the Lion Tamer a stern look. "If you're denying the truth because you feel guilty, then you should kindly stay quiet because the truth means we have a threat that we don't even know."

"I'm not denying because I feel guilty!" Christel snapped, not looking him in the eye.

"Then why else would you deny it?" Shinya questioned.

"Because he just has to be the one who did it!"

Shinya rolled his eyes. "What a well-thought response. Look, whether you like it or not, Iyasa wasn't a murderer. You aren't the only one who accused him of it, but just because he didn't kill Lucille doesn't make him a good guy. He was the mole of the Beast, meaning he probably took some part in bringing us all here. He also threatened all of us with a sword and even went after Jamie."

Christel glared up at the Toxicologist, tears pricking her eyes. She then raised the middle finger at Shinya and stormed off down the hallway. "Christel, wait up!" Gemma called, chasing after the petite woman. Alice, Jamie, and Hideki were right behind her. Fera glanced over at Shinya before shaking his head and following after Christel.

Shinya's expression softened. "Christel, wait. I'm sorry." With that, he rushed down the hallway.

Yui glanced down the hallway, then turned back to those remaining. "You can keep Tobi. He could protect you… in theory." Tobi snickered and gave Yui a two-finger salute. The young girl ignored him, opting to journey down the hallway.

Garnet glanced around at everyone still standing around. "Guess we now know which path to go down."

* * *

**8:18 A.M. Day 2**

**Floor 3**

**Hallway 8**

Christel rubbed at her eyes, trying to fight back her tears. "Verdammt, he shouldn't be hurting me this much." She slumped against a wall. "He's right, though. Iya did a terrible thing."

Screens on the wall began to reappear, but Christel completely ignored them. "Why? Why did Iyasa have to be the mole?! He was a good guy!"

Static played on the screens, getting Christel's attention, before switching over to security camera footage.

* * *

_Christel was leaning against the wall of a classroom, her arms crossed over her chest, when Iyasa stumbled into the room. "'Bout time that you got here!" She walked over to the young man and gave him a light smack on the chest. "I've been waiting for ages!"_

_Iyasa let out a small chuckle. "Sorry, Christel. I got a call from my uncle."_

_Christel's harsh expression quickly morphed into a worried one. "Is everything alright?"_

"_Yeah, yeah, it's just…" A giant grin broke out across Iyasa's face. "My aunt gave birth this morning!"_

_The Conductor smiled. "Iya! That's amazing! We've got to celebrate!"_

"_So long as you're the one paying."_

* * *

Christel watched, unaware of the others running over to her, as another clip began to play.

* * *

_Christel was in her dorm room, lying down on her bed with a heating pad on her stomach. She briefly lifted her head when she heard a knock on the door. "It's open!"_

_Iyasa stepped into the room with a package in hand. "Hey, Christel, I brought what you need."_

"_Oh my God. Thank you, Iya!" Christel forced herself up into a sitting position, wincing at her cramps. She held her arms out for the package. "Give me the goods." Iyasa set the package down on the bed by Christel's side before sitting next to her._

* * *

Christel shut her eyes tight. "Stop it! Stop it!"

"Christel!" Alice grasped the Conductor by the shoulders.

With a gasp, Christel flew her eyes open. She stared at Alice for a moment before taking a shaky breath. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have run off like that."

Gemma cracked a smile. "Well, at least we figured out how to split up."

Christel stared at the elf for a moment before snickering. "You've got a point there, kid."

Shinya stepped forward, looking somewhat remorseful. "Christel, I—"

"Before you say sorry, I'm going to go ahead and stop you," Christel interjected. "Were you being a massive ass when you said that shit? Yes. Did I need to hear it? Also yes." She stood up to dust off her pants. "Iyasa was my friend, but that doesn't change the fact that he was mole. It also doesn't change that I blamed him for committing a murder he was innocent of." Christel sighed and wiped at her eyes. She then stared at the screens, which had returned to static. "The Beast is getting shittier at tormenting us."

"Don't test him," Yui ordered. "He'll start making things worse." The Gunslinger glanced up at her group before giving a sigh of her own. "I think we should get moving." She began to walk off before anyone could respond.

Shinya sighed. "Great, I'm taking orders from a child."

Alice let out a slight chuckle, while bouncing a fussy Hideki in her arms. "Welcome to my life."

* * *

**9:06 A.M. Day 2**

**Floor 3**

**Hallway 9**

Takeshi let out a small sigh as he walked. He should be used to these sorts of conditions, but he never really could. Nonetheless, that was not about to stop him from moving. He paused when he saw Anthony stumble. He rushed over to his friend's side and helped him up. "Are you okay, T-Tony?"

Anthony gave a small nod, blinking a few times. "Yeah, I'm fine, Keshi. Don't worry. I think all this walking and lack of breaks is starting to take its toll on me." When Takeshi gave the taller boy a frown, Anthony chuckled. "I'm fine, really; just tired. You worry too much."

"You're my f-friend," Takeshi argued. "I'm a-allowed to worry."

Anthony raised an eyebrow. "Then that means I'm allowed to do the same. Have you taken your medicine yet?" Takeshi's frown deepened. "What's wrong?"

"The Beast t-took them," Takeshi muttered. He shook his head. "It's f-fine, Tony. It's not like we're not on a b-battlefield."

Anthony sighed. "With everything that's gone on here, we might as well be."

The Medic's frown deepened. "That's c-certainly the truth… How could all of this have h-happened? Why… Why did they all have to die, Tony?"

"I wish I knew, Keshi."

The plum-haired boy shook his head. "This is… this is my fault."

Anthony's eyes widened. "Don't say that."

"It's the truth, though!" Takeshi gripped tightly onto his arms. "I should have been paying more c-close attention, maybe then that would have prevented Lucille b-being killed! Or Iyasa wouldn't have s-snapped and kept Tenshi and Gilbert behind!" Takeshi began to violently tremble as tears streamed down his face. "Failure… failure… s-stupid, stupid failure!"

"Keshi!" Anthony grabbed the Medic by his shoulders and held him tightly. "You are not a failure! You have done everything that you can! You were able to save Henry after he sawed off his foot!"

"That's all I've done, though!"

"And it's all you've been expected to do." Anthony's gaze softened. "Keshi, we aren't on a battlefield. No one is expecting you to save every person here. You aren't a failure if someone dies, especially if they were killed while you were asleep."

_**Meanwhile...**_

Further up ahead in the group, Percy couldn't help but be trapped in his own head, which did not go unnoticed by Kitty and Garnet. The Lion Tamer tapped on his shoulder, causing him to let out a small yelp.

"Percy? You okay, mate?" Garnet inquired.

Kitty giggled. "You look more frightened than a baby cub separated from his mama." When Percy did not respond, Kitty gave him a concerned expression. "Percy… what's wrong?"

The Fireworks Specialist shrugged. "I just… Whoever killed Lucille could've gotten to me."

Garnet frowned. "Don't think like that, mate."

Kitty nodded. "Garnet's right. You don't know if that's the case."

"But I do know!" Percy shouted. He soon calmed down, but a frown was still painted on his face. "We were both awake, and she asked me if I heard something. I didn't, and then she told me to go ahead and sleep. She said she'd take the rest of my shift and just wake me up later…" Tears pricked his eyes. "It should've been me."

Kitty's eyes widened. "Don't you dare say that." When Percy shook his head, she responded by cupping it between her hands. "Hey, I mean it. You're alive. You made it through the night in a despair game. I don't know what the fuck goes on with the universe sometimes, but you at least had Lucille on your side to help you get through the night." She cracked a smile. "Regardless of what happened, you get to live another day. That's pretty awesome!"

Garnet smirked. "Another day to build and fire off fireworks."

Percy let out a small laugh, softly hitting Kitty's hands away to wipe at his eyes. "I guess you're both right."

"You guess?" Kitty questioned. "Excuse you! You should know I'm right!" The two young men snickered.

"Hey, circus clowns!" Rafaela shouted. "Get your asses in gear and keep moving!" The trio exchanged looks with one another before chuckling and following after their group. Anthony gave his friend a quick side hug while Takeshi wiped away the tears from his eye.

* * *

**10:21 A.M. Day 2**

**Floor 3**

**Hallway 8**

Alice glanced around at her group, the hand on her personal pink backpack tightening. Gemma had offered to take Hideki off of her hands for a bit, and Alice's arms, admittedly, needed the break. However, it felt weird not holding him in her arms, especially when the four-year-old was clearly not feeling well. Her eyes landed on Jamie. She could offer to carry him. "_All this travelling can't be any good for an eight-year-old,_" she thought. "_Especially one as small as him…_" Alice shook her head. "_He'd probably say no, though. Thomas stopped being cuddly when he turned eight… but Ryder still asks to be carried, and he's seven… Never hurts to try._"

"Jamie?" Alice asked. The young boy perked up, looking back at Alice. "Do you want me to carry you?"

"Isn't he a bit old to be carried?" Shinya questioned.

Jamie glanced down at the ground.

Alice gave her eyes a light roll. "He's a child, and we've been walking more than the average adult. I don't want him to get hurt. Besides, it's not childish to be carried." She turned her attention back to the young boy. "I can carry you if you want. It won't be a problem at all."

"It's okay, Miss Alice," Jamie responded. He flashed her a big smile. "I'm a big kid!" Alice felt unsure with that response, and she wasn't sure she could accept it. Even if Jamie was smiling, there was something about it that seemed… forced.

"It's really okay, Jamie," Alice reassured. "You can be a big kid and still be carried." Jamie was silent for a moment before shaking his head, rushing forward to talk to Shinya. Alice drew in a deep breath. "_Useless… that's what you are._" She took another deep breath before shaking her head and continuing her walk.

"Mr. Shinya, what is a toxicologist?" Jamie inquired.

"It's someone who studies and creates poisons," Shinya responded, not paying the child much mind.

Jamie's eyes widened. "Why would you make more poisons?"

Shinya shrugged. "Reasons that a child shouldn't know." Jamie nodded, still somewhat confused and shocked by the response.

He then looked over at Fera, who perked up. "What do you want to know from me?"

"Well, I know Miss Minemi said what a ghostwriter is, but… what made you want to be one?" Jamie asked.

Fera hummed while tapping his chin. "Well, I was always fascinated by writing and telling stories. I just… I didn't want the attention that came from being a famous author. When I learned ghostwriting was an option, I went with it." He wilted a bit after saying that. "I haven't always been the best at it, though."

Shinya perked up and turned his attention to the writer. "Whatever you did can't be worse than what I did…" The two men walked in silence, visibly downtrodden. Jamie seemed to wilt himself, and he distanced himself from the two.

The group walked along in silence until Alice heard a sneeze from Jamie's direction. She glanced over at the young boy. "Bless you, Jamie. Do you need a tissue?"

The young boy stared at the Caregiver, somewhat confused. "What do you mean, Miss Alice? I didn't sneeze."

Alice raised an eyebrow. She kept her focus on the boy. That was when she saw it. In the shadows of the hallway, the light reflected off a metallic surface. Acting on instinct, the Caregiver rushed towards Jamie and pulled him out of the way just as a webbed, dark-green hand attempted to plunge a carving knife into Jamie's neck.

The Caregiver felt pain searing from where the knife entered her thigh, letting out a small scream. Nevertheless, she surged forward, grabbed hold of the hand, and tugged the figure out of the shadows.

A short, turtle-like creature stood before the group; his amber eyes nervously bounced around from person to person. He had a wide-horned beak, scaly skin, and even a small tail. The oversized trench coat he wore showed the visible outline of a large shell on his back.

Before anyone could react, the creature ripped the knife out of Alice's leg, causing her to drop to the ground. Yui went to unholster one of her guns, but she was forced to jump back when the creature swung at her. She kicked the creature in the chest, expecting to knock them back, only for pain to sear through her foot after hitting a hard surface. The Gunslinger hissed, but she remained unfaltering.

The creature sighed. "The only good thing about this stupid form is that it's harder for people to hurt me." Yui cocked an eyebrow. The voice was male, but it was young. Whoever this person was, he could only be as old as her. In her brief moment of distraction, he lunged forward.

"Yui!" Christel cried out, rushing towards the young girl and shoving her out of the way. The knife left a deep cut on Christel's arm. Yui took this as her opportunity to remove the gun on her right hip and fire at the creature. She fired off twice before he had disappeared into the shadows. Yui went to chase after him, but he was gone as soon as he showed up.

Alice drew in shaky breaths as she bled from her wound, forcing herself to stay calm despite hearing the gunshots. She could not freeze up now. She let out a small hiss as she removed her tights. Shinya held her wounded leg, while combing through his backpack for a first-aid kit of some sorts. Fera had called the other group, informing them of the attack. "I'd offer you mine, but the Beast took that from me too," Alice commented.

"_If you can f-find a needle, thread, and some rubbing alcohol, that could work,_" Takeshi stated. "_It's n-not ideal, but it might have to do._"

"Noted," Shinya muttered.

"Miss Alice," Jamie whimpered. Alice snapped her head over to the boy. Tears were streaming down his face.

"Oh, Jamie, come here," Alice cooed, opening her arms for a hug. The young boy seemed hesitant, but he ultimately rushed over to Alice and hugged her. "Why are you crying, dear?"

"You're really hurt," Jamie sniffled, "and it's my fault."

"What makes you say that?" Gemma asked, while brushing hair out of his face.

Alice was silent for a moment before taking a guess. "Is it because I pulled you out of the way from that… thing?" When Alice felt Jamie's grip on her tighten, she tightened her hold on him in return. "Jamie, this is not your fault. If he hadn't have sneezed, I would have missed him…" Alice quieted the part of her mind that made her think of the worst outcome from that scenario. "I chose to pull you out of the way."

"Really?" Jamie sniffled.

Alice pulled back from the hug, hissing for a moment as Shinya pierced through her skin with a needle. "Seems Mister Shinya finally found the first-aid kit." Jamie let out a small giggle in response. Alice cracked a smile. "I'll be fine, Jamie. I probably shouldn't do any running for a while, but I'll be fine otherwise."

While this was going on, Yui was busy wrapping Christel's arm in bandages. "That was dumb of you."

Christel snorted. "For a kid, you sure are blunt." She sighed. "I'm aware it was dumb, though."

The two were silent before Yui asked, "Why did you push me out of the way?" Christel looked at the Gunslinger incredulously. "What?"

Christel shook her head before turning her attention back to the young girl. "Not to beat a dead horse here, but you're twelve. It should be obvious why I did that."

Yui frowned. "I'm capable of protecting myself."

"He was about to stab you, and he probably would've hit something vital." Christel sighed. "I'm not denying your ability to protect yourself. I'm just saying I saw you were about to get hurt, or worse, and I… I don't want to see someone so young get killed."

Yui gave a curt nod before tying the bandages in a tight, but neat knot. "Your bandages are wrapped. Make sure to keep them clean." Despite the conversation being done, the Gunslinger remained by Christel's side.

* * *

**11:52 A.M. Day 2**

**Floor 3**

**Hallway 9**

Yoshi let out a tired sigh. "My feet are starting to hurt." She looked over at Minemi. "How long have we been walking, again?"

"For about three hours now," Kitty groaned. "Can we please take a break? We've been walking since we got out of that room, and I think we should take a break."

"_We just stopped ourselves,_" Christel stated.

"_I'm so sorry my leg is slowing us down,_" Alice responded.

Minemi let out a small sigh. She herself was starting to feel the effects of the long hike. "I suppose we could afford a small break to eat lunch."

Tobi chuckled. "Sounds good. And if the little turtle-thing the others saw tries to attack us, then I can make quick work of him." The group came to a halt.

Minemi shut her eyes and leaned her head against the wall. "Everything okay, Mimi?" Rafaela asked. When Minemi chose not to respond, Rafaela sighed. "Is everything okay, Minemi?"

The Parapsychologist peeked an eye open. "Did you just call me by my actual name?"

"If it gets you talking to me," Rafaela muttered. She turned her attention back to Minemi. "You've been quiet since we started walking."

"I'm not a talkative person, Red." Minemi shut her eyes again.

"I know that, but… Is it because you were wrong about that fluffy-fucker?" When Minemi remained silent, her jaw tightening, Rafaela chuckled. "I might not be as observant as you, but I recognize this." Rafaela motioned at Minemi with an amused smirk. "This is the look of a high-and-mighty bitch who's never really made a mistake before, and she's now feeling fucking sorry for herself because she's fucked up a couple of times." Minemi was now glaring daggers into Rafaela, causing the Cyberpunk to laugh even more. "You're only proving my fucking point."

Minemi's eye twitched. "If this is your attempt to comfort me, then you're doing a shit job at it."

Rafaela shook her head. "I'm not here to comfort you."

"Obviously," Minemi grumbled.

"I'm here to smack some God damn, chicken-shitting sense into ya." Rafaela crossed her arms over her chest. "Maybe I'm way off the fucking map here, but you don't seem like the kind of prissy-preppy bitch to get fussy over being wrong."

"If I was wrong about a math problem or a puzzle, then I wouldn't be upset. It's the fact I messed up reading Iyasa, twice!" Minemi's hold on her parasol tightened. "I misjudged him being the mole, and then I thought he was the murderer! How could I be wrong about him twice?!"

Rafaela shrugged. "That dude was weird as rabbit shit. And despite everything you've gone through with your shitty-ass parents, you probably still want to assume the best of people."

Minemi rolled her eyes. "I don't assume anything about anyone."

"Then why were you so upset when Iyasa turned out to be the mole?" Minemi paused, causing Rafaela to smirk. "I might not be the brightest bitch in the bunch, but I'm still good at getting to the root of someone's bullshit. My best advice to you is to just grow from this. Yeah, you messed up, but so has everyone in the entire fucking world ever. I've messed up, too."

Minemi cracked a small smirk. "Oh, trust me, Red, I'm aware." She cocked an amused eyebrow. "You did let me see what your family did to you, and what you did to them. I have to admit that I'm still impressed with how you handled them. I didn't know someone could hold so much anger inside them."

Rafaela let out a loud bark of laughter. "There's the Minemi I've seen! Snippy and bitchy and super fucking psycho, but fucking fun!" Minemi couldn't help but giggle at that assessment.

After the laughter between the two had subsided, Minemi let out a small sigh. "You know, Red… You aren't as much of an idiot as I thought you were."

"And you aren't as much of a psycho cunt as I thought you were," Rafaela responded, a cheeky grin on her face.

Before the conversation could continue any further, the group's attention was taken to the phone in Kitty's hand as it rang. The Lion Tamer nervously gulped. "It's not the other group."

Minemi let out a tired sigh. "I suppose we should answer it. Lord knows what the Beast might do if we don't."

With a nod, Kitted pressed the Accept button.

"_**Glad to see that everyone is alive and well,**_" the Beast greeted. "_**Even if the other group isn't nearly as lucky.**_"

"No thanks to you, no doubt," Yoshi muttered.

The Beast let out a low hum. "_**Ah, yes, it seems they got to meet Aio. He's certainly an… interesting little guy.**_"

"Is he the one who killed Lucille?" Percy questioned.

"_**Correct!**_" The Beast cackled. "_**Since I'm feeling so generous, I might give you all a prize.**_"

Tobi smirked. "Could the prize be leaving this place?" He was still standing, leaning against the wall.

"_**Unfortunately, no.**_" The stones around the Harvester disappeared, causing him to stumble. The stones revealed a metal door. "_**The rules for the room are simple. The two shortest men will go in and work their way through the room. If they manage to escape it within the time limit, then I'll give those remaining outside a pathway to reconnect with the two men, and I'll even put you all closer to the staircase to the second floor.**_"

"And if they don't?" Garnet asked.

"_**What does it matter to you, Garland?**_" The Beast snapped. "_**I said the two shortest men.**_"

Garnet drew in a deep breath. "Look, mate, I don't know if you're genuinely that much of an asshole, which isn't a shock considering what we're currently doing right now, or you're just trying to be an edgelord, but this is annoying."

"This all seems too simple for the Beast," Percy muttered.

"But if we g-go in there, we could help everyone get out of here quicker," Takeshi argued.

"_Did the Beast just call you Garland?_" Gemma asked.

Garnet's eyes widened. "Oh shit."

"_You said you didn't know a Garland!_" Gemma cried.

"I didn't think it was important!" Garnet claimed.

"_You were my best friend, and you lied to me about your identity!_" Gemma retorted. Even if she was on the other side of the phone, it was clear by her voice that she was upset. "_You lied to me, you… you asshole!_" The sound of someone running off soon filled the air.

"_Wait, Gemma!_" Alice shouted.

"Uhm, guys," Yoshi muttered, eyes glued on the door.

"_God damn it, Alice, don't tear those stitches open!_" Shinya barked. "_I am not a medic!_"

"I think there are more pressing matters at the moment, Shinya," Minemi chided.

"Guys," Yoshi repeated, a bit louder this time.

"Shit, shit, shit," Garnet hissed. "I didn't mean for this to get this bad."

"Sounds like you really hurt her, little guy." Tobi chuckled.

Garnet glared up at the Organ Harvester. "I get it, I royally messed up!"

"GUYS!" Yoshi screeched. Everyone snapped their heads over to the Actress. "Takeshi and Percy went in." Anthony's eyes widened; a pit formed in his stomach. The television screens reappeared as they showed what was happening inside the room.

* * *

**12:06 P.M. Day 2**

**Floor 3**

**Room Cicada**

Takeshi and Percy stood at the beginning of a long, narrow tunnel. The room was dark, save for the timer at the end of the hallway with two minutes as the starting time. "Is this our challenge?" Percy questioned.

"This d-doesn't feel right," Takeshi muttered. He moved forward. Lights instantly flooded the tunnel, revealing two things. First, the ground was composed of tiles. Some were blank, while others had symbols on them. Second, the hallway was not straight. It curved off to the left.

"Well… this could be worse." When a low growl filled the room, Percy let out a nervous chuckle. "Nevermind, it seems things are getting worse."

Hesitantly, Takeshi took a step forward, his foot landing on a blank tile. When nothing happened, he stepped onto another. Blank tile by blank tile, Takeshi managed to get halfway down the hallway in under twenty seconds.

Percy, on the other hand, was not having such luck. He was still fairly close to the starting point, and his backpack and sack of fireworks were not doing him many favors. He let out a frustrated groan. "I should've left my bag with the others."

"Come on, P-Percy, we don't have much time left," Takeshi urged, hopping to the next blank tile. The Fireworks Specialist's eyes widened. Without thinking, he ran forward. His feet hit tiles marked with arrows and a bear.

Arrows began to fly out of the wall at the two boys. Takeshi fell to the ground, and Percy quickly followed suit. The two boys continued to slink along the ground as arrows flew above their heads. As soon as the arrows ceased their fire, the boys heard the same low growl from earlier. However, it sounded far closer this time. They peeked back to see a Monokuma that was at least five feet tall on all fours, growling and snarling at the two young men. There was dried blood on around its giant maw, and its sharp teeth shone in the light of the room.

Takeshi and Percy immediately sprung up and ran as fast as they could away from the monstrosity. Their feet hit several other tiles. The back of Percy's poncho caught flame from a blowtorch while Takeshi had to jump over a series of spikes that immediately appeared out of the ground. A Gatling gun fired at the two boys just as they reached the door. Takeshi breathed a heavy sigh, flinging the door open and letting Percy run out first. But before the medic could follow him, the Monokuma Beast grabbed hold of his left arm and bit down.

The awful sound of metal on metal filled the air, Takeshi screaming in agonizing pain as the Monokuma chewed on his arm. The Combat Medic struggled, failing to remove himself from its mouth, when a loud whistling noise filled the air. "Fire in the hole!" Percy shouted. Not even a moment later, a firework flew right at the Monokuma's face, forcing it to release Takeshi's arm. The Medic quickly stumbled out of the room before the door slammed itself shut.

Takeshi took in ragged breaths, holding his horribly damaged arm, as the others from his group rejoined him and Percy from a separate door. "Keshi!" Anthony cried, running over to his friend. Takeshi allowed his mangled arm to be seen. However, the sight was not what anyone in the group was expecting.

What was once a seemingly normal arm was now a mess of wires, synthetic flesh, and thick black oil running down the mangled sleeve of Takeshi's shirt, which was just barely staying attached to his torso.

Everyone stared at the arm with wide eyes, including Takeshi himself. "What… What is this?" Takeshi muttered.

"You mean you don't know?" Yoshi asked, her voice almost a whisper. The arm fell to the ground with a loud, metallic clang.

"_**Ahahaha! It appears our resident robot finally realized he's not a real boy!**_" The Beast taunted.

A stunned silence fell over the group as everyone processed what the Beast said. "Wh-wha…?" Takeshi stuttered. "What do you… w-what do you mean? Me…? Not… human…?"

* * *

**17 Survivors Remain**

**5 Limbs Lost**

* * *

**Author's Note: So...I bet no one was expecting this. I've been waiting for this moment for a while, not going to lie. There's a few other things I'm looking forward to, but this whole chapter...It's got a lot of stuff I've been waiting to do.**

**First off, I'd like to give a big thanks to my internet wife Latte, otherwise known as Life Among The Dead, for submitting Aio and giving me permission to make him another villain for the maze.**

**Second, I want to give a big thanks to Fee for being an amazing beta and amazing co-contributor to this story! Seriously, he's been helping me with my crazy ideas and just as crazy writing!**

**So, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Stay tune for the next one, which will hopefully not take me over a month to write this time.**


	10. The Beast's Maze Announcement

**Hello everyone, I'm sorry that this is the update you're getting instead of a new chapter. For those of you who are unaware, the series that this story is a spin-off for, Legacy of Despair written by the amazing Crit Fail, is going to be rebooted. Due to some of the changes that the series itself will be facing during this reboot, including the removal of two stories, characters, and several other things, I will be rebooting The Beast's Maze as well.**

**Thankfully, I've only posted eight chapters as opposed to a couple others who have posted far more for their spin-offs. However, I am still going to be making quite a few changes. For those of you who are not interested in reading the reboot, thank you for reading this story in the first place. If you are, I will be posting the new character roster very soon. Thank you all, and I hope you enjoyed The Beast's Maze 1.0.**


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